Przewodnik The Katyn Museum in Warsaw

The Katyn Museum in Warsaw takes the reader through the Katyn Museum – a branch of the Polish Army Museum located within the Warsaw Citadel since 2015.

The guide introduces the history of the Katyn Museum, its collections, and its permanent exhibition, while also providing the broader context of the Katyn massacre and the decades-long effort to preserve the memory of its victims. The narrative of historical events is interwoven with the stories of specific individuals and the personal effects left behind by the murdered citizens of the Republic of Poland.

The publication leads the reader through the museum’s various spaces, including the two main sections of the permanent exhibition: ‘Discovery’ and ‘Testimony’. The first section outlines the history of the Katyn massacre, the ‘Katyn Lie’, and the struggle to reveal the truth. The second presents the so-called ‘Katyn relics’ – personal items recovered from mass graves in Katyn, Kharkiv, Mednoye, and Bykivnia. Each of these objects serves as a tangible testament to the fate of a specific individual.

The guide offers a closer look at the Katyn Museum’s exceptional collections, comprising tens of thousands of artefacts and archival materials: items recovered from the graves, documents, photographs, and family keepsakes donated by the victims’ loved ones. Among them are documents recovered from mass graves in Katyn, Kharkiv, and Mednoye that have been inscribed on the Polish National Register of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme.

Numerous photographs of artefacts and exhibition spaces complement the narrative, allowing for a deeper understanding of both the museum itself and the stories of the people whose memory it preserves. The publication can accompany visitors during their tour while also serving as a valuable source of information and a lasting memento of their visit to the Katyn Museum.