Majdanek Memorial
We are launching a website providing access to historical materials related to the German concentration camp KL Lublin and the extermination camps in Bełżec and Sobibór.
Thanks to this platform, researchers, historians, families of victims, and internet users from around the world will be able to freely browse valuable documents and photographs. By making them available online, we aim to significantly broaden access to these materials and thus increase awareness of the history of the camps and the realities of the German occupation.
The database, which initially contains detailed information about 300 objects, will be continuously expanded with further documents and photographs. Ultimately, the photographic collection will also include lesser-known materials or those not previously published. The platform will also feature digital representations of post-camp artefacts, while the collection is complemented by information about testimonies of witnesses and former prisoners of Majdanek held in the Museum archive. Each object has its own detailed description, placing it within a broader historical context.
THE DOLL FROM MAJDANEK
A prisoner doll made by unknown female prisoners. It is dressed in a striped dress sewn from original camp fabric and a striped jacket with the camp number “1108”.
THE WATCH FROM SOBIBÓR
A round pocket watch with a plastic crystal, preserved separately. The brass casing features decorative vertical grooves and a floral motif. At the top, a round winding crown is mounted on a horizontal base decorated with a symmetrical ornament. The dial is round, cream-coloured, and covered with a rhomboid chequered texture. The numerals are large and slightly slanted. Below the “12”, in an oval border, is the company name: “LANCO” (the company existed from 1873 to 1973). The hour hands are missing. At the bottom, in a circle, there is a minute counter with one surviving hand, currently immobile. The back casing of the watch is missing, revealing the mechanism, which bears the markings: “15 RUBIS / LANCO” and, below, the letters “F / A” and “S / R” separated by a vertical arrow pointing upwards.
SS MUG
A mug probably used in the SS canteen or barracks. Made of thick white porcelain stoneware.
The mug is cylindrical in shape and has a capacity of approximately 0.5 litres. It is made of thick porcelain stoneware. The rim is slightly rounded. The handle is cut away, in the form of a large loop. In the lower part of the vessel, around the base, there is an indented raised section. On the bottom are dark green marks: the inscription “VICTORIA” with a crown above it, and below it the inscription “Waffen SS”. The inventory number has been applied in black marker to the lower part of the vessel.
Portrait of Stanisław Idzikowski
A pencil drawing depicting a portrait of Stanisław Idzikowski, made in KL Lublin by a fellow prisoner named Franczak or Fronczak (first name unknown; the drawing is signed in the lower right corner with the name “Johnny”). The bust of the man is shown in three-quarter view. The work was made on cream-coloured Bristol board. The sitter is turned to the left and is wearing a striped camp uniform marked with prisoner number 4626 and a triangle with the letter “P”. The drawing was made with fine, smudged pencil strokes.
The launch of the Digital Majdanek portal is part of a broader process of digitising the Museum’s archival collections, carried out, among other means, thanks to the “Cultural Infrastructure 2026” programme. Equipped with a high-class scanner and other modern equipment, the Digitisation Studio will work on expanding the website. This, in turn, will increase the accessibility of the collections and significantly accelerate searches by researchers and users interested in the history of Majdanek, Bełżec, and Sobibór. The additional equipment for the studio will improve colour fidelity and the quality of reproductions for exhibition purposes and will enable the professional editing of archival film materials, including testimonies of former camp prisoners.
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