Memoria [EN] Nr 35 (08/2020) | Page 9

Zdjęcia w artykule: Andrzej Rudiak

StElimelekh i Tamar Landau. Fot. Yad Vashem

Scenario of the exhibition “SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor. German extermination camp 1942-1943" was prepared by the team of employees of the State Museum at Majdanek: Tomasz Kranz, PhD; Dariusz Libionka, PhD and Krzysztof Banach. The exposition will show the history of the extermination camp in Sobibór, including the fate of subsequent victims in the broad context of the functioning of Nazi apparatus of extermination of the Jewish population in Poland and in Europe.

The iconography will be based on newly discovered photographs and documents. The exhibition is going to present 500 artifacts discovered in the course of archaeological research, including in particular personal belongings of the victims.

In his introduction to the album “Extracted from the ashes. Personal belongings of the victims of German extermination camp in Sobibór" (Lublin, 2018), curator of the exhibition and at the same time Director of the State Museum at Majdanek Tomasz Kranz, emphasizes:

"These relics are characterized by their unique power of expression and carry double message. On one hand, we perceive them as tangible proofs of extermination and on the other – as the last signs of the life of subsequent individuals, entire families and bigger communities. By being the evidence of death, they remind us of life. […] Extracted from the ground, they constitute a silent, but so moving last will of those murdered that we need to read, implement and pass on to future generations."

Artistic design of the exhibition was selected in an international competition organized basing on funds from the grant provided by the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany through the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. Main prize was awarded to the Kłaput Project s.c. company from Warsaw.

According to the winning exhibition design concept, its main part is going to be constituted by a glass case with the objects discovered during archaeological works. Exposition space will be divided according to subsequent themes describing the establishment, operation and liquidation of the German extermination camp in Sobibór.

Wszystkie zdjęcia w artykule: Miejsce Pamięci Sobibór

All pictures in the article: State Museum at Majdanek