On the grounds of the former German death camp in Sobibór the work on the protection of mass graves containing ashes of the camp victims has finished. It was the first phase of the international project to create the Museum – Memorial Site in Sobibór.

One of the important tendencies in the development of museums is aspirations to create an imagination-stirring message and to trigger an interaction between visitors and museum exhibitions. The key question appears to be definifion of a 'museum experience' as well as its make-up. The participants of a panel debate organised by the Museum at Majdanek will discuss this issue, among many other thing. The debate takes place on May 18 at 12.00.

“Zagłada Żydów w Generalnym Gubernatorstwie. Zarys problematyki” constitutes a synthetic description of the Holocaust carried out by the Germans in the years 1942-1943 within the framework of the so called “Aktion Reinhardt.” The newest book by prof. Dariusz Libionka published by the State Museum at Majdanek is earmarked for a wide readership.

Commemorating ceremonies, exhibitions, publications, educational projects and discussions by historians are among the events planned by the Museum as part of the 75th anniversary of “Aktion Reinhardt.” They will be held between March 16, 2017, and November 3, 2018. In this period we will regularly publish on our website (in section “History”) materials on history of the extermination of Jews in the General Government in 1942–1943.

We kindly inform that due to the commencement of construction work on the grounds of the memorial site in Sobibór, the Museum of the Former Death Camp will be closed from March 1, 2017, until further notice.

Exhibitions, book promotions, conferences and meetings. 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 2017.

A report on the activities of the State Museum at Majdanek in 2016 has already been published. It includes the most important events, completed projects and information on the growing number of visitors.

The Museum at Majdanek has accomplished conservation of another group of relics found on the grounds of the former German death camp in Sobibór.

In 2016, number of people who visited the State Museum at Majdanek increased again. Nearly a half of 213,237 visitors to the Museum and its branches came from abroad (93 227 people).

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.