The establishment of the KL Plaszow Memorial and Museum
- The idea of commemorating the area of the former KL Plaszow is our commitment to the victims and inhabitants of Cracow, who recall the war times, as well as to contemporary Cracow citizens and international communities. By creating the museum, we wish to begin a new chapter of mutual work on preserving the memory of this place of death and suffering, which is extremely important for our history - says Jacek Majchrowski, the Mayor of Cracow.
Memorial space
The Museum - KL Plaszow Memorial will be built on the grounds belonging to the Municipality of Krakow, the Jewish Religious Community in Krakow and the State Treasury. It will cover an area of about 40 hectares, which since 2002 has been entered in the register of monuments kept by the Małopolska Regional Monument Conservator, and the adjacent area of about 3 hectares.
The site of the former German Nazi labour and concentration camp Plaszow is a place of national memory. It is confirmed by two legal acts protecting it: the already mentioned entry in the register of monuments and the Act on War Graves and Cemeteries of 1936, which recognises the area of KL Plaszow as a war cemetery. The site of the camp includes the remains of three places of mass executions. The excavated bodies of the victims were burnt and scattered all over the area, formally making the camp premises a cemetery.
Given that the current "park and recreation" status of the space does not meet the requirements of the memorials, it has become necessary to establish an institution which will provide appropriate care and possess museum facilities. Such an approach will make it possible to manage the place consistently and in a planned manner, care for the memory, as well as teach about the history of the camp (in particular, the educational activity is to take into account the issue of the crime of genocide).
The KL Plaszow Museum and Memorial is to be founded on three pillars; the first two are: the site - an authentic witness to the suffering and death of the victims and the museum exhibition - presented in the Grey House and Memorial, the third pillar: education and dialogue - will be implemented in the Education Centre.
The commemoration project assumes keeping the area of the former camp as unchanged and authentic as possible, installing information boards and markings of important places, such as the place where bodies were burnt or the roll-call square. However, next to it, on Kamieñskiego Street, a new museum building will be erected, the so-called Memorial with a permanent exhibition devoted to the history of KL Plaszow, as well as a parking lot for buses and a park. The Grey House will also be renovated (the building belonging to the Chevra Kadisha Funeral Society before the war, which was converted during the occupation into the
The Cracow City Council adopted a draft resolution regarding the establishment of a municipal cultural institution from 1 January 2021: KL Plaszow Memorial and Museum in Cracow. German Nazi labour and concentration camp (1942–1945). The Museum will be a municipal cultural institution co-run with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage - following the letter of intent signed in June by the Mayor of Cracow and the Minister. The letter envisaged cooperation in terms of finance and content between the city and the ministry for the creation of the Memorial, as well as the establishment of a new institution.