Lublin

Konzentrationslager Lublin, commonly known as Majdanek, was a German concentration and prisoner-of-war camp located in Lublin, operating from 1941 to 1944. The camp was designed as a complex intended to hold up to 250,000 prisoners, though due to wartime difficulties, many of these plans were never fully realized. Built with 236 barracks, including 207 designated for prisoners, Majdanek became a site of mass extermination, particularly of Jews, as part of the Third Reich’s policy of annihilation. The camp was equipped with gas chambers used to murder Jews and other prisoner groups. One of the most tragic events was the "Bloody Wednesday" during Operation "Erntefest," when approximately 18,000 Jews were killed. Throughout its operation, around 150,000 people passed through the camp, with an estimated 78,000 losing their lives—59,000 of whom were Jewish. After the war, the camp grounds were transformed into a memorial and museum, established in 1944 as the first institution of its kind in the world. The State Museum at Majdanek collects materials related to the camp’s history and preserves the memory of the victims. In 1969, the Monument to Struggle and Martyrdom was unveiled, and over the years, numerous conservation efforts have taken place on the museum grounds. It is also worth noting that Majdanek was a site of resistance activities—prisoners established contacts with the local population, enabling the smuggling of information and food. In 2010, a fire broke out at the museum, destroying unique collections, including 7,000 pairs of shoes belonging to prisoners, underscoring the tragic fate of those who were held in the camp. As a symbol of the Holocaust, Majdanek serves as a somber reminder of the brutal crimes of World War II and remains an important place for education and reflection on history.