Experiences of prisoners

The exhibition in Blocks 8 and 9 is part of the Museum’s new main exhibition. It presents the fate and experiences of prisoners registered in the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz.

The exhibition in Blocks 8 and 9 is structured around three central themes: registration, daily life in the camp, and the prisoners’ experience. These themes are illustrated through original objects, quotations from Survivors, and artistic works.

In the first part, visitors learn about the different groups of prisoners registered in the camp, as well as the successive stages of the brutal transformation of a human being into a prisoner: from the initial shock, through humiliating nudity during bathing, the shaving of hair, the stripping away of all personal belongings, the issuing of the camp uniform, and the registration process — symbolized by personal cards, camp photographs, and the tattooed number.

The second part presents everyday life in the camp: from the morning gong, to washing, meals, roll calls, hours of slave labor, and finally the night spent in the camp barracks.

The final part is devoted to the prisoners’ inner experience — the constant elements of camp existence. The themes addressed include exhaustion, hunger, cold, corporeality, fear, numbness, hopelessness, and death.

By 2030, the Museum will complete the two remaining parts of the new main exhibition. Ultimately, visitors will first see an exhibition presenting Auschwitz as an institution consciously created and developed by Nazi Germany, as well as an exhibition devoted to the extermination of Jews in Auschwitz. The entire multi-year project is financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.