An international board of experts visited the State Museum at Majdanek and our branch – the Museum and Memorial in Sobibór. The study visit comprised scholars and researchers from various fields and academic hubs.

Their goal is to analyse the role of the archaeological excavations conducted within the grounds of the former German Nazi extermination camp ‘SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor’ in the process of establishing the new museum and commemoration in Sobibór. The project is coordinated by the Dutch NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

The guests from the Netherlands, Israel, Poland, Austria, and the UK first visited the Museum and Memorial in Sobibór. It was an opportunity to go through the former death camp area that had been an area or archaeological research in the years 2000–2017, and to see the effects of the Museum’s efforts to secure the mass graves area. Then, the experts explored the permanent exhibition “SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor. German death camp 1942–1943” which describes the functioning of the killing centre established by the Third Reich in Sobibór, and invokes the memory of all 180,000 victims murdered in the camp. Sharing the impressions and opinions regarding the memorial site was a valuable lesson for the international board of experts and hosts alike.

During the second day of their study tour, the guests visited the State Museum at Majdanek, where various aspects of the projects were discussed during several sessions. Additionally, we presented a part of the Sobibór collection that is preserved at the memorial’s repository in Lublin. The participants could see about various objects unearthed in Sobibór, and learn about their maintenance and conservation undertaken by the Museum. A guided tour within the former concentration camp area additionally provided a chance to compare the two sites related to the German Nazi genocide crimes.