POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews

POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw tells the thousand-year story of Jewish life in Poland, from medieval merchants to the present day, and is one of the most important museums in Europe. It stands in Muranów, the heart of Warsaw's prewar Jewish district and the site of the wartime ghetto, facing the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes. Its core exhibition was named European Museum of the Year in 2016, and the building itself is a modern architectural landmark.

Why POLIN matters

Before World War II, Poland was home to Europe's largest Jewish community, about 3.3 million people, and in 1931 more than 350,000 Jews, nearly a third of the population, lived in Warsaw. POLIN deliberately tells the whole story, not just the Holocaust: centuries of trade, religious life, culture and politics, followed by destruction and the postwar years.

The museum was conceived in 1995 by the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland. Finnish architects Rainer Mahlamäki and Ilmari Lahdelma won the design competition in 2005. The building opened on April 19, 2013, the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and the core exhibition followed on October 28, 2014. The name "Polin" is Hebrew for Poland, and in legend it also means "rest here," the words Jewish refugees are said to have heard when they arrived in Poland centuries ago.

What to see

The core exhibition, "1000 Years of the History of Polish Jews," covers more than 4,000 square meters in eight galleries. It moves from the legend of the first arrivals, through the "Paradise of the Jews" (Paradisus Iudaeorum) of the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, life in small towns, the encounter with modernity and the vibrant interwar years, to the Holocaust and the postwar period. The showstopper is a reconstruction of the painted wooden roof and ceiling of the Gwoździec synagogue. Original objects are combined with multimedia and full-scale reconstructions.

Also worth your time:

• the main hall, a towering, undulating "canyon" cutting through the building, symbolizing the rupture in Polish-Jewish history,
• the "Bonds" gallery, with voices of descendants of Polish Jews now living in New York, Tel Aviv, São Paulo and elsewhere,
• changing temporary exhibitions,
• a family space and a family track on the audio guide.

How long do you need, and is it worth visiting?

For anyone interested in European or Jewish history, POLIN is one of the essential things to do in Warsaw. Allow at least 2–3 hours for the core exhibition; last entry is two hours before closing, which gives a sense of its scale. The audio guide is included with every ticket (even on free Thursdays) and is available in 15 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Hebrew and Ukrainian. On weekends you can join a guided walk through the core exhibition.

Expect an airport-style security check at the entrance. The building is fully accessible; wheelchairs can be borrowed in the main hall and folding stools are free to use in the exhibition. There is a cloakroom, a bookstore and the "Warsze" restaurant serving Jewish cuisine.

Tickets and opening hours (as of October 2026)

• Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday: 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; last entry to the core exhibition 4 p.m.
• Saturday: 10 a.m.–8 p.m.; last entry to the core exhibition 6 p.m.
• Tuesday: closed. In 2026 the museum is also closed on November 1, December 24–25 and December 31.

A ticket covering the core exhibition, audio guide, temporary exhibition and the "Heritage" gallery costs 45 PLN (Polish złoty) full price and 35 PLN reduced; a family ticket is 95 PLN for up to two adults and four children under 18. Admission is free on Thursdays, when no advance reservations are taken. The Warsaw Pass includes free entry. Visitor numbers in the galleries are limited, so buy tickets online at bilety.polin.pl, especially for weekends. Visitor information: +48 22 471 03 01, rezerwacje@polin.pl.

How to get to POLIN Museum

The address is ul. Mordechaja Anielewicza 6, about a 15-minute tram ride from Warsaw's main station.

• From Warszawa Centralna station: trams 17 or 33 toward Żoliborz to the Anielewicza stop (about 500 m from the museum).
• Buses 111 and 180 stop at Nalewki-Muzeum, about 200 m away.
• The nearest metro station is Ratusz Arsenał, about 1 km away.
• From Warsaw Chopin Airport: bus 175 to the central station and change to a tram, or bus 188 to the GUS stop and change to trams 17 or 33.

On weekends the museum's own parking lot on Anielewicza Street is free while spaces last; on weekdays use the paid municipal parking zone.

Nearby

Right outside is the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes. From there, the Memorial Route of Jewish Martyrdom and Struggle leads to the Umschlagplatz memorial on Stawki Street, from where the Germans deported ghetto inhabitants to the Treblinka death camp in 1942. The museum also runs guided city walks through the former Jewish district.