The State Museum at Majdanek is the world first institution established on the grounds of a former camp. Over the eight decades, the Museum has undergone a remarkable transformation and evolved both as a repository of material traces of the past, and as a living institution that responds to social change, rises to new challenges, and sets benchmarks in the field of historical museology.

Another stage of the “Spaces of the Holocaust” project is behind us. After we went to the German and Dutch museums in April and May, and presented our outdoor exhibition in both countries, now it came the time for a revisit of our partners to Poland.

We encourage you to follow our livestreamed debate entitled “40 Years after the Shoah. The Holocaust in the Light of Claude Lanzmann’s Documentary.” The discussion will launch our international conference “Trains of Death – Railways Transports to the German Death Camps. State of Knowledge and Research Proposals” hosted by the State Museum at Majdanek and the Museum and Memorial in Sobibór on 8-10 September 2025.

In April and May the staff of the State Museum at Majdanek went on study tours at the key museums and education centres of Amsterdam and Berlin. The aim of their networking visit was to learn about the activities and programmes of foreign historical museums and to exchange ideas and experiences with diverse museum professionals.

In order to mark the 80th anniversary of the World War II ending in Europe, we share our latest publication prepared for Polish and foreign teachers.

80 years ago, on 8 May 1945, World War II ended. Or maybe – to paraphrase dr Zygmunt Klukowski, who is cited in one of the published essays – we entered the 86th year of war in January 2025?

On 23-28 March 2025 the State Museum at Majdanek with its branches in Bełżec and Sobibór hosted an international exchange for the youth from Poland, Germany, and the Netherlands.

We proudly announce that an exhibition developed by the State Museum at Majdanek is for the first time presented to the audience in the Netherlands. The project entitled “Spaces of the Holocaust: Majdanek, Bełżec, Sobibór” launches at the Kamp Westerbork Memorial, where all visitors can see an exhibition displayed under the same title.

We invite historians, researchers, regionalists, and students, for our academic conference – “Trains of Death – Railway Transports to the German Death Camps. State of Knowledge and Research Postulates – that is going to take place at the Museum in Memorial in Sobibór on 8-10 September.

On January 27, 2025, the projection hall of the Museum and Memorial Site in Bełżec hosted a unique artistic event as part of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day observances. The organizers – the Museum in Bełżec and the Bełżec Municipality – invited participants to reflect and honor the memory of Holocaust victims.

On 26 January the director of the State Museum at Majdanek dr Tomasz Kranz was granted the National Leadership Award by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The American institution appreciated his long-time engagement in the Holocaust remembrance as well as the input in the field of education in Poland.

The German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated on 27 January 1945. In recognition of that event, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed it as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

It is time to draw up a summary of 2024. It was primarily marked by two important anniversaries: the 80th jubilee of the State Museum at Majdanek and the 20th anniversary of creating the Museum and Memorial in Bełżec. In July we recalled the moment when exactly 80 years passed from the final liquidation of KL Lublin.

We are pleased to announce that on December 30, 2024, Hanna Wróblewska, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, appointed Tomasz Kranz as the Director of the State Museum at Majdanek. He was appointed for a 5-year-term through a competition prcedure.

On 23 October 2024, at the Lublin Conference Centre, we celebrated the 80th anniversary of the State Museum at Majdanek. It was a spontaneous occasion for a meeting within the circle of museologists and friends of the Museum, reminding of the institution’s history, presentation of present-day activity as well as honouring the most deserving employees.

In October 1944, just three months after the liquidation of the Majdanek German Nazi concentration camp, a Museum was established on its former grounds. It was the world’s first Memorial dedicated to the victims of World War II.

Museum and Memorial in Sobibór received a special commendation in the European Museum of the Year Award 2024 (EMYA) prestigious contest. The award ceremony gala was held on 4 May in Portimao, Portugal. 50 European museum were nominated including 5 candidates from Poland.

During another ”Museum in Action” seminar, we reflected on how to prepare the text for the editorial process and how to plan the works on creating an exhibition. The course aims to improve the skills of our staff and to pursue the goals forming the foundation of our institution more effectively.

Nearly 15 speakers were invited to participate in the on-line conference "Museum exhibitions in the Holocaust memorials: from Bełżec to Sobibór" organized on June 4–5, 2024. It is dedicated to a broader context of influence and perception of exhibitions in the museums established on the former camp grounds. Register and take part in our event. It will be held in English, under honorary patronage of the National Institute of Museums.

On 15 April 2024, the inaugural session of the Council of the State Museum at Majdanek took place. Appointed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for the 2024–2028 term of office, a new Council has a task to assess the Museum activities and approve its plans.

On the National Day of Remembrance of Poles Rescuing Jews under German Occupation, students from the Zespół Szkół in Ruda Różaniecka took part in educational workshops entitled "I did it for you... to save you." This extraordinary meeting gave us the opportunity to deepen our knowledge of the Holocaust and to draw attention to the sacrifice of Polish heroes who risked their lives to save Jews from extermination.

The Museum and Memorial Site in Bełżec has become a place of reflection and contemplation on the tragic events of Aktion Reinhardt. The commemoration of the victims began with the opening of the exhibition "Deportations to the Bełżec Extermination Camp." Photographs, documents, and survivor testimonies provided a powerful glimpse into the experiences of those condemned to deportation and death.

On March 6, we celebrate the European Day of Remembrance for Righteous. This holiday, established by the European Parliament in 2012, aims to honor the memory of people who opposed totalitarian regimes and mass crimes in the 20th and 21st centuries. In particular, we want to pay tribute to those who risked their own lives to save others and defended human dignity.

27 January marks the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Museum and Memorial Site in Bełżec once again joined the celebration of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.