The camp was built on the south-eastern outskirts of Lublin on the road to Zamosc. It operated from 1941 until 1944 when it was liberated by Soviet troops. The camp covered an area of about 270 hectares on which stood about 200 barracks.

The total number of prisoners held during its being was estimated between 300,000 and 360,000 of which around 80,000 were killed. The prisoners came from many countries in Europe but most were Poles and Jews. They were killed mostly in mass executions and in the gas chambers, of which there were five.

The State Museum at Majdanek was opened in November 1944 on the site of the former concentration camp. It was the first such institution of its kind in the world. In 1969, on the anniversary of the liberation of Majdanek, a monumental memorial to the victims of Fascism was erected which was designed by the architectural engineer Viktor Tolkin. The memorial is made up of two main parts, the monumental gate and the vast mausoleum which holds human ashes collected at the camp. The museum also maintains the vast archive left behind by the SS administration. The largest historical collection is of the items found after the liberation of the camp.

State Museum at Majdanek – Lublin (woj. Lubelskie)

www.majdanek.pl