8 Strzelecka Street in Warsaw

8 Strzelecka Street is a corner residential building in Warsaw's Praga district that contains preserved basement cells and markings left by those held there. The structure now functions as a memorial site, displaying the physical remnants of its wartime use.

Soviet NKVD forces seized the building in 1944 and used it as headquarters for imprisoning and interrogating Polish resistance members until 1945. After the war, it became recognized as an important site documenting this period of occupation and repression.

The building serves as a place of remembrance for those who suffered during Soviet occupation, with the preserved rooms telling stories of resistance and survival. Today, visitors encounter a physical connection to the experiences of ordinary people caught in wartime.

The building has set visiting hours and you should check ahead as spaces have limited capacity for groups. The ground floor is easily accessible, but the basement area with the historical cells requires descending stairs.

The basement walls bear original inscriptions carved by prisoners during their time there, offering direct insight into their thoughts and survival. These scratched words and marks are unedited human testimony from this dark period.