EXHIBITION “KL PLASZOW.
A SITE AFTER, A SITE WITHOUT”.
NOTE TO THE STORY.
From its inception, the KL Plaszow Museum has been committed to finding the most appropriate means of conveying the importance of the camp's site, considering the distinctive features of the currently verdant and partially integrated area within the expanding urban landscape. Museologists knew this area presented unique challenges not commonly encountered in other memorials. Over 70 years, the camp premises maintained an in-between state, during which it developed its distinct language of communication and reception. This language had to be acknowledged and incorporated into the museum's narrative of KL Plaszow's history.
With this in mind, our approach to curating the permanent exhibition was guided primarily by the principle of moderation. This meant using as few words as possible, only a select number of quotations, and opting for a single photograph instead of multiple. In our announcement for the exhibition's artistic design competition, we outlined the following criteria: legibility, muted colours, a relatively light approach, noble materials, and an emphasis on simplicity in form. The competition winner, the Cracow-based design studio Koza Nostra, collaborated with the KL Plaszow Museum team until 2023 to create the permanent exhibition.
The open-air section was completed in March of this year. It is the first segment of the KL Plaszow Museum's permanent exhibition, which will eventually consist of three sections. Two of them will be presented in the museum buildings. The section illustrating the chronological events of KL Plaszow will be presented in a newly established facility known as the Memorial. Construction has recently commenced on this facility, which is anticipated to be finished by early 2026. A reflective story presenting prisoners' accounts of incarceration will be showcased in the historical building - the Grey House.
The area of the memorial is the most significant testimony of its historical significance. Irrespective of the degree to which it has been deprived of its material remnants, the visitor's encounter with this space is of utmost relevance. The vastness of space, the considerable effort involved in its exploration, and the physical fatigue that typically ensues from a visit - all contribute to the particularity of perceiving former extermination sites, where messages should encourage individual contemplation.
The open-air permanent exhibition "KL Plaszow. A site after, a site without" comprises 14 ascetically designed panels. The composition includes a curatorial text, excerpts from prisoners' testimonies, illustrative material in the form of photographs taken from 1943 to 1944, and contemporary numerical depictions of the site. The content on the black and white boards is presented in three different languages: Polish, English, and Hebrew. Each board is numbered and labelled with headings, making it easy to refer to specific events and locations in the camp's history. The exhibition at KL Plaszow takes visitors on a comprehensive tour of the memorial grounds, lasting approximately one and a half hours. The tour offers valuable insight into the most significant events in the history of KL Plaszow.
Additional media complement the exhibition. Traces of historically significant objects are denoted by 41 field points, signifying the locations of relics pertaining to the camp's history. These windows consist of a pavement constructed with Jewish gravestones, the camp's sewage system, and a fragment of one of the barracks' foundations. The camp infrastructure is only visually represented by five metal replicas, two of which accurately depict the layout of KL Plaszow in 1944.
The exhibition is a component of a broader project that aims to validate the memorial by emphasising the surviving traces of history while respecting the existing layout of this area. Historical references are manifested in the solid blocks lining the perimeters of the Jewish cemeteries, the paved and gravel-resurfaced historical roads and paths, and the limestone band that delineates the roll-call square. Unfenced, the memorial area is demarcated by 23 pylons as symbolic markers of its boundaries. The use of this area is denoted by signs containing rules and regulations positioned along the seven thoroughfares that lead to the post-camp premises. The more intrusive elements in the space are three flights of stairs, which allow safe movement across the varied heights of the camp area. Additionally, benches and waste bins have been installed.
All the elements described are increasingly becoming part of the memorial's landscape. Nature inevitably takes over the new supports, and the grasses, shrubs and vines obliterate the impression of newness and strangeness of
In March 2024, the Plaszow KL Museum opened the first part of the permanent exhibition. The exhibition "KL Plaszow. A site after, a site without" is located on the grounds of the KL Plaszow memorial, 4 kilometres from Cracow city centre. Visitors to the exhibition will not be under the museum's roof and will not need to buy tickets, collect entry passes, or have a staff member accompany them. The tour will primarily involve exploring the open and lush green KL Plaszow memorial area on foot and reading the outdoor exhibition texts.
Marta Śmietana, Płaszów Memorial
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