Varia. Online magazine
of the Museum
at Majdanek.
“The magazine contains texts published online that strive to popularize the topic of the experiences and fate of the prisoners of German camps at Majdanek, in Belzec and Sobibor. They have been very well reviewed so far, reaching over 900,000 Internet users. We therefore decided to periodically present them in the form of a concise publcation”, the Introduction states.
The first issue of the magazine, having Dorota Niedziałkowska as its editor, includes twelve articles. Among them there are for example texts devoted to the liquidation of the ghetto in the Podzamcze district in Lublin, the 78th anniversary of the beginning of mass deportations to German Nazi extermination camp in Sobibor, as well as fragments of regular publications about e.g. love behind Majdanek fences, escapes from the camp, air raids or sculptures performed in KL Lublin in 1943.
“We would like to invite you to find out more about the difficult events of the 20th centry through the most interesting fragments of the history of KL Lublin, SS-Sonderkommando Belzec, and SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor. We also hope that the proposed thematic cycles, told with passion by museum experts who look after the memorial sites at Majdanek, Bełżec, and Sobibór on a daily basis, will inspire you to deepen your knowledge and develop the historical interests”.
The cover includes the photo of Bolesław Burski, nickname Jasieńczyk. In the present issue of the magazine readers will find the text by Anna Wójcik presenting the story of his life. Born in 1905 in Warsaw, Burski was an agricultural engineer, soldier of the Polish Army and scouting organizer. Before the outbreak of WW2, he worked as a landscape architect in Dąbrowa Górnicza. During the war he was active in the resistance movement, organizing sabotage networks, cooperating with intelligence and counter-espionage headquarters. He was arrested at night on December 26th/27th 1942 as a result of denunciation. After a few weeks spent in the Pawiak prison in Warsaw, he was deported to the camp at Majdanek.
On the occasion of the 2020 International Museum Day, the Museum at Majdanek has prepared the first issue of “Varia” online museum magazine, representing a historical profile and prepared by the team consisting of staff members of the State Museum at Majdanek.
Paweł Sawicki