The Museum of Polish Children in Łódź will have a permanent home. Two buildings located on the site of the former German concentration camp for Polish children on Przemyslowa Street in Lodz have been purchased for the facility.

One of the properties is the so-called Verwaltung – the building of the former camp commandant’s office, which will be the site for the permanent exhibition. The historical value of this location is confirmed by archival photographs showing, among other things, the roll call of prisoners against the background of the building. The second property is located at 29 Przemyslowa St. There was a camp punishment cell nearby.

“Today we are fulfilling a duty to the victims and to the historical memory towards future generations, who must remember what inhumane acts took place on Polish soil during World War II”, said Minister of Culture and National Heritage Piotr Gliński during a press conference on the purchase of real estate for the establishment of the seat of the Museum of Polish Children in Łódź and its branch in Dzierżązna.

The property in the manor park in Dzierżązna in the Zgierz municipality housed a former coach house. During the German occupation, the building was located near the residence of Heinrich Hans Fuge, deputy commandant of Camillo Ehrlich in the camp on Przemysłowa Street and later head of the Dzierżązna branch. Thanks to a donation from the Zgierz municipality, a branch of the institution will be established there after the building has been renovated.

Museum of Polish Children – victims of totalitarianism. German Nazi camp for Polish children in Łódź (1942-1945) was established in May 2021 as a state cultural institution on the basis of an order of the Minister of Culture, National Heritage and Sport. Amongst other things, the institution’s employees collect, develop and store collections related to the history of the camp on Przemyslowa Street in Łódź. They also carry out exhibition, educational and scientific activities.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński