An unusual museum in a unique location. A thousand years of history revealed in a symbolic place in the center of Warsaw - in a district inhabited mainly by Jews in the pre-war period, which was turned into a ghetto by the Germans during the war. The museum commemorates this rich culture and its heritage.
Before you start your tour, pay attention to the building itself, which carries many symbols and meanings. For example, the main hall "cuts" the museum building from the ground up to the roof, symbolizing the rift in the history of Polish Jews caused by the Holocaust. The Hebrew word Polin, meaning "Poland" or "Here you rest", is inscribed on the glass panes of the façades. Then embark on a journey through the centuries and follow the route marked out by eight themed galleries. Historical exhibits, paintings, interactive installations, model reconstructions and video projections are presented in a fascinating story.
POLIN The Museum of the History of Polish Jews. Main exhibition Synagogue © Photo M. Starowieyska MHZP Polin
You will discover the traces of the first Jewish settlement in medieval Poland, see the royal statute from the 13th century, which guaranteed the Jews security, personal freedom and religious freedom and learn what led to the "Golden Age of the culture of Polish Jews". In the Miasteczko Gallery (the "little town") you will see one of the main attractions of this museum: the reconstructed vault of the unique wooden synagogue from Gwoździec. Next, you will walk through the pre-war Jewish street, where two cultures merged. Then the route takes you to the Warsaw Ghetto from the Second World War and from there to the post-war period.
Don't forget to visit the monument to the heroes of the ghetto in front of the museum. This is the spot where German Chancellor Willi Brandt knelt down in a historic gesture in 1970. This event was seen as a symbolic apology by Germany for the crimes of the Holocaust.
Nearby is the memorial to Jan Karski - the envoy of the Polish Underground State. In the fall of 1942, he went to Great Britain, where, as an eyewitness, he sent a report on the extermination of the Jews to the highest Allied authorities.
