The celebrations of the 73rd anniversary of the uprising and prisoners’ mass escape from the German death camp in Sobibór took place on 14 October 2016.

On 23 September, non-invasive research started on the grounds of the former German Nazi death camp in Sobibór. The research is a result of an agreement on cooperation between the State Museum at Majdanek and the University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska in Lublin.

It is with deep sadness that we learned of the passing of Philip Bialowitz (Filip Białowicz) – last survivor of the Sobibór death camp who was born in Poland. He died in Florida (USA) on 6 August 2016.

On June 6, 2016, an off-site session of the Museum Council of the State Museum at Majdanek was held. The members of the Council visited the Museum of the Former Death Camp in Sobibór – a branch of the Majdanek museum.

The Lublin region has a long museological tradition dating back to the beginning of the 19th century, when the Temple of Sibyl was built in Puławy by the Czartoryski family. Today, there are 48 museums and museum branches in the region visited by over one million people a year. The role of these institutions in the contemporary tourism in the Lublin region was discussed by the participants to the panel debate organized by the Museum at Majdanek.

The main topics of the international scientific conference organised on 5 May by the State Museum at Majdanek were the results of the archaeological works conducted in the former German death camp in Sobibór, the project of spatial development and planned educational activities to be carried out in the new museum.

On March 24, the State Museum at Majdanek opened a new open-air exhibition commemorating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the ghetto in Lublin. During the opening of the exposition “‘Districts of Extermination. Ghettos for Jews in German-occupied Lublin,” there were a lecture, photography display and screening of archival videos.

A report on the activities of the State Museum at Majdanek and its branches in 2015 has already been published. It includes information about, among other things, the most important events, conservation and educational projects.

Debates, book promotions and educational projects. More than a dozen events aimed at, among others, people with passion for history, academics, students and teachers will be held in the State Museum at Majdanek in 2016. In the centre of the events there is an international conference on the project for building a museum and new commemoration on the grounds of the former death camp in Sobibór.

Interest in the State Museum at Majdanek has increased among visitors. In 2015, the institution noted a record-breaking attendance – 207 893 people took advantage of the Museum’s offer. It is the highest rate since 1990.

Appointed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for the 2011–2015 term of office, a new Museum Council of the State Museum at Majdanek was constituted. Its main tasks include assessment of the Museum activities and acknowledgement of its plans.

The State Museum at Majdanek attempts to broaden the circle of its educational offer recipients. The newest museum publication “Zur Pädagogik der Erinnerung. Bedingungen, Ziele und Methoden historischer Bildung in Gedenkstätten“ [Pedagogy of remembrance. Determinants, aims and methods of historical education in memorial sites], ed. Tomasz Kranz, is intended for museologists, teachers and other persons involved in social and political education.

The discovery of the foundations of the building that had housed gas chambers in the former German death camp in Sobibór prompted significant public interest both in Poland and abroad. This discovery was unanimously understood to be an important historical event.

It is with deep sadness that we learned of the passing of Thomas "Toivi" Blatt – one of the latest survivors of the Sobibór death camp. He died in Santa Barbara (USA) on October 31, 2015.

Starting from November 1, opening hours of the State Museum at Majdanek and Museum of the Former Death Camp in Sobibór are changed. In the winter season, part of the museum exhibition is also closed.

From October 29 to November 29, 2015, exhibitions will be presented in Volkshochschule in Bielefeld devoted to the history of the German death camp in Sobibór and the course of “Aktion Reinhardt” – mass extermination of European Jews.

The newest articles on educational activities and exhibitions of the Museum at Majdanek can be downloaded from its website. The study by Wiesław Wysok is the description of the education in authentic historical sites, as exemplified by the pedagogy of remembrance– a concept developed by the Museum at Majdanek. The article by Krzysztof Banach is an analysis of the exhibtions presented by the Museum in 70 years of its activities. It was issued in print in the 26th volume of "Zeszyty Majdanka."

On June 24, 2015, the last museum lesson before holidays was held as part of the “Accessible Culture” – a programme of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

On July 1, the Sejm National and Ethnic Minorities Committee held at Majdanek its session on education at memorial sites. MPs’ debate was devoted mainly to education on the grounds of the former German concentration camps. The session was preceded with visiting the museum exhibition.

The State Museum at Majdanek participates in the programme of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage “Accessible Culture” and performs a series of free museum lessons for pupils of middle and high schools. The main goal of this programme is to increase the participation of various social groups, including young people from small towns, in cultural life.

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The State Museum at Majdanek and the Provincial Police Headquarters in Lublin established long-term cooperation which aims at organisation of historical and educational seminars for police officers of the Lublin garrison. The seminars will be devoted to the perpetrators of the Second World War.

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Director of the Museum at Majdanek Ph.D. Tomasz Kranz and rector of the Catholic University of Lublin Rev. Prof. Antoni Dębiński signed a cooperation agreement. The institutions represented by these two pledged themselves to run educational projects together and to initiate actions that aim at deepening the knowlegde about the Lublin region.

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The Museum issued a German-French version of the catalogue documenting the temporary exhibition “They Arrived at the Ghetto... And Went into the Unknown...” It describes the most important events and places related to the killing action resulting in death of about two million people. The texts are supplemented with numerous archival photos, documents, announcements and maps.