Museum items

The collection of museum items of the Central Museum of Prisoners-of-War comprises over 12 thousand objects. It includes first of all things which were used or made by POWs during their captivity and also other mementos, e.g., objects that were used by the administration and guards in POW camps, or items created after the War with a view to preserving the memory of the captivity. The oldest objects come from the POW camps of the time of World War 1. The basic part of the collection, however, is composed of memorabilia dating from World War 2, the majority of which are related to Polish soldiers remaining in the German POW system. There are also a large number of mementos which come from camps of internment of soldiers of the Polish Army, located in Romania and Switzerland. Moreover, there are objects in the collection, which are connected with the captivity of Polish soldiers in the USSR and with the labor camp that functioned in Łambinowice after World War 2.

The memorabilia are divided into two groups: the first covers artistic museum items (including paintings, engravings and drawings, sculptures, pieces of applied art, numismatics, philately, medallic art, artistic posters, photographs and designs, models and dummies), and the other one – historical museum items (personal belongings, former camp clothes, shoes and pieces of equipment).

Gathering, storage, conservation, elaboration and making the museum items available are the responsibility of the Department of Collections and Conservation based in Łambinowice. Access to the mementos (Tuesday through Friday between 8.00 and 15.00) can be granted upon filling in the relevant form and obtaining permission from the Director of the Museum. A similar procedure is in force in the case of making copies. The Museum can be commissioned to conduct search and make copies, photographs and scans (price-list for performing specialist archival services).