Treblinka Museum, Memorial museum in Masovian Voivodeship, Poland
The Treblinka Museum is a martyrology museum in Kosów Lacki commune, Masovian Voivodeship, documenting two German Nazi camps: the Treblinka II extermination centre and the Treblinka I penal labour camp. It manages 132.64 hectares, including the former camps, a gravel pit, a forest execution site and the "Black Road" linking the camps. Since 2010 a permanent exhibition has four parts, the largest on the extermination camp.
Treblinka I, a penal labour camp for Polish and Jewish prisoners, ran from summer 1941 to late July 1944; about 20,000 people passed through it and some 10,000 died or were murdered. Treblinka II, the extermination camp, operated from July 1942 to November 1943 about two kilometres away, with a minimum of 780,863 victims estimated by Jacek A. Młynarczyk. The Germans were driven out in summer 1944, and the site stayed unmarked for 20 years until the Mauzoleum Walki i Męczeństwa was unveiled on 10 May 1964.
The museum's grounds include the "Black Road", built by the Germans using Jewish headstones (macewot) probably taken from the cemetery in Kosów Lacki; some of these stones are now in the museum's collection. The site also holds a gravel pit where Treblinka I prisoners worked and a forest execution site. Since 2010 a permanent exhibition has four parts, the largest on the extermination camp.
The site is best reached by train from Warsaw, followed by local transport to the grounds. Plan to spend several hours walking and exploring, so wear comfortable shoes and allow plenty of time.
The 17,000 stones belong to a different memorial; here the museum holds copies of drawings by Samuel Willenberg, a Treblinka II prisoner who survived the 2 August 1943 revolt. Its collection also keeps a model of the extermination camp, historical photographs, and matzevot that Germans used to pave the "Black Road" between the two camps.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,449 contributors worldwide.
