Footsteps of WWII · Poland
State Museum at Majdanek, Lublin
Camp memorial · Oct 1941 – Jul 1944; 'Harvest Festival' 3 Nov 1943
The story
Majdanek, on the edge of Lublin, was set up by the SS in autumn 1941 as a prisoner-of-war and then concentration camp, and also served as a killing site for Jews in Operation Reinhard. On 3 November 1943, in Operation Harvest Festival (Aktion Erntefest), SS and police units shot about 18,400 Jews here in a single day, in trenches beside the crematorium, to the sound of loud music. The Red Army reached the camp in late July 1944, and because it was captured nearly intact it was the first major camp seen by Allied forces and reporters. The museum was founded that autumn.
What to look for
Wooden barracks, watchtowers and fences still stand in open ground within sight of Lublin's housing estates. See the gas chambers and the crematorium. Wiktor Tołkin's 1969 monument stands at the entrance, and the domed mausoleum at the far end holds a mound of victims' ashes.
Plan your visit
Grounds free to visit; Polish-language guided tours at weekends, 25 PLN (reduced 20). From 7 April 2026 the side entrances from Cmentarna and Tetmajera streets are closed: use the main entrance on Droga Męczenników Majdanka. Check opening hours on the website before you go.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Sobibór Museum and memorial · 73 km
All 160 sites in Footsteps of WWII →
Footsteps of WWII: Europe 1939–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The whole Second World War in Europe, from the first shots at Westerplatte on 1 September 1939 to the German surrender in May 1945: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Normandy, Arnhem, Bastogne, Stalingrad, Berlin and the camps, in 15 areas from Britain to Russia.
Open the guide