1945-1949
December 1945
- at a meeting of the Peoples' National Council, former prisoner Alfred Fiderkiewicz submits a proposal for a law on the establishment of a Museum on the grounds of the former concentration camp.
February 1946
- The Presidium of the Council of State orders the Ministry of Culture and Arts to secure and organize permanent custodianship over the grounds of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
1947
- the Polish parliament passes a law establishing the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
June 1947
- the opening of a permanent exhibition on the grounds of the former Auschwitz I-Main Camp marks the opening of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum.
1947-1955
- a debate goes on throughout Poland on the size of the Museum grounds and the way the Museum is being organized.
1948
- The Cracow branch of the Okregowa Komisja Badania Zbrodni Hitlerowskich w Polsce (District Commission for the Investigation of Nazi War Crimes in Poland) establishes a Documentation Department.