News
New Main Exhibition of the Museum. Beginning of work in Blocks 8 and 9 on the exhibition about the fate of prisoners.
On 12 December, the Auschwitz Museum signed a contract with Arco System to build part of the New Main Exhibition of the Museum, which will be located in Blocks 8 and 9 of the former Auschwitz I camp.
The creation of the exhibition will be preceded by the design process, conservation work in historical buildings, and necessary archaeological work. The work will begin later this year.
‘The part of the exhibit, which will ultimately conclude the entire main exhibition, will depict the fate of approximately 400,000 prisoners of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz. The narrative will focus on the policy of dehumanization implemented by the SS, who sought to turn a person into a mere number day by day, trampling on their dignity before physically destroying them,’ stated Katarzyna Półtorak, the head of the New Main Exhibition Team.
The exhibition will be guided by the words of Survivors, their drawings and paintings created both secretly in the camp, and later after the war, depicting things they witnessed.
‘Objects that were in everyday use in Auschwitz, such as a wooden stand for administering lashing punishment, shovels, and many others, will also be featured. Additionally, archival documents containing prisoner data and photographs taken during registration will be included,’ emphasized Magdalena Urbaniak, the coordinator for the New Main Exhibition.
‘As part of the project, dozens of display cases will be created to provide climatic conditions for historical objects in accordance with conservation requirements. They will be equipped, among other things, with installations and monitoring devices for air quality, temperature, and humidity. For particularly sensitive objects, these parameters will be automatically adjusted,’ added Ewa Matlak, deputy head and coordinator for the New Main Exhibition.
The exhibition's authors are Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, the museum director, and Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz, the head of the Research Center. Work on this part of the exhibition will continue until the end of 2025. The New Main Exhibition will replace the existing one, which has been in place with some changes since 1955. The exhibition will be presented on the first floors of six historical blocks of the former Auschwitz I camp, numbered from 4 to 9.
The exhibition related to the fate of the prisoners, to be created under the signed contract, is one of three parts of the exhibition. Subsequent parts will address the topic of the extermination of Jews and present the camp as an institution of Nazi Germany. The entire New Main Exhibition is expected to be completed in 2030.
The project for the New Main Exhibition at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum is funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland – from purpose grants for investment expenditures, as well as from the Museum's own funds.