Museums

POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews

POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews stands in Muranów — the pre-war Jewish district that was home to Europe's largest Jewish community outside New York — directly opposite the Ghetto Heroes Monument. Opened in 2013 in a building by the Finnish studio Lahdelma & Mahlamäki, it tells a thousand years of shared Polish-Jewish history, from the first medieval newcomers to the present day. Its flowing glass facade, covered with a relief of Hebrew and Latin letters evoking a torn book, ranks among the most interesting examples of contemporary architecture in the capital.

The heart of the museum is the core exhibition “1000 Years of the History of Polish Jews”: eight galleries lead through the medieval journey to Poland, the golden age of the multi-faith Commonwealth, the world of the shtetl, the dynamism of nineteenth-century and inter-war cities, the Holocaust, the post-war diaspora and the revival of Jewish life after 1989. In 2016 the museum was named European Museum of the Year. Its surroundings — the monument and the traces of the ghetto — turn a visit into a walk through a topography of memory.

Practical information: the museum is closed on Tuesdays, and on Thursdays admission to the core exhibition is free. A standard ticket costs 45 PLN, a reduced one 35 PLN and a family ticket 95 PLN; booking online is recommended, especially at weekends. Allow at least 2–2.5 hours for the core exhibition plus time for temporary shows. Audio guides, family trails for children and full wheelchair accessibility are available.