Muzeum Żołnierzy Wyklętych i Więźniów Politycznych PRL, Museum dedicated to political prisoners in Warsaw, Poland
The Muzeum Żołnierzy Wyklętych i Więźniów Politycznych PRL, known in English as the Museum of Cursed Soldiers and Political Prisoners, is a museum housed in the former Mokotów prison on Rakowiecka Street in Warsaw. It presents original cells, personal belongings of detainees, and written testimonies covering different periods of political imprisonment.
The prison building was constructed before World War II and after 1945 became the main facility used by the communist authorities to hold political prisoners, including soldiers of the anti-communist resistance. After 1989, the site was gradually converted into a place of memory and eventually opened as a museum.
The museum displays objects that prisoners made or kept in secret, such as rosaries shaped from bread crumbs and notes written on scraps of paper. These small items show how people held on to their humanity even when cut off from the outside world.
The museum is in the Mokotów district and easy to reach by public transport. A guided tour is worth considering, as it gives access to parts of the building that are not open to visitors exploring on their own.
The solitary confinement cells still contain inscriptions scratched into the walls by prisoners, recording names, prayers, and counts of days. Some of these marks were left by people whose fates remained unknown for decades after their imprisonment.
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