The Home Army Museum in Kraków ( pl, Muzeum Armii Krajowej w Krakowie) was created in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in 2000, to commemorate the struggle for independence by the underground

Polish Secret State The Polish Underground State ( pl, Polskie Państwo Podziemne, also known as the Polish Secret State) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Gover ...

and its military arm Armia Krajowa (The Home Army), the largest resistance movement in

occupied Europe German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The museum is named after general

Emil August Fieldorf August Emil Fieldorf (''nom de guerre''; “''Nil''”; 20 March 1895 – 24 February 1953) was a Polish brigadier general who served as deputy commander-in-chief of the Home Army after the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising (August 1944 – ...

"Nil". It is the only such institution in Poland promoting knowledge about the Polish Underground State and its armed forces during World War II. The idea behind the Home Army Museum is to provide a holistic picture of the Polish underground, its spiritual origins and the shape of patriotic heritage to the present day. The museum was established in 2000 as a local self-government unit but the formal establishment was preceded by a ten-year effort of collecting the historical items of the Home Army Veterans. So far, the museum has collected more than 8,000 exhibits and more than 12,000 archives – mostly gifts of Army Soldiers and their families around the world – historical memorabilia, often with the tenor of relics. The library resources reach about 11,500 volumes. Warszawskie, Kraków, Poland - panoramio (139)

Warszawskie, Kraków, Poland - panoramio (139)

The permanent exhibition presents the history of Polish Underground State and Home Army in their complexity. The main section of the exhibition begins with the so-called September Campaign (

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

, 1939). The division of Poland into two occupied zones, German and Soviet, consists of several sections (pe. Society, Terror, concentration camps, Holocaust and attitude of the Underground State towards persecuted Jews, etc.) and are well documented with photographic displays. Day-by-day life, both civilian and military, and the policy of both occupants is shown in the rich narrative scenography of the exhibition, based on documents and artefacts such as uniforms, munitions, many documents and decorations. The main part of the exhibition is situated in the basement. Visitors are confronted with hundreds of photos and memorabilia telling stories of selected Home Army members. One of the most precious exhibits is the diary of a famous major "Hubal" –

Henryk Dobrzański Major Henryk Dobrzański (22 June 1897 – 30 April 1940) was a Polish soldier, sportsman and partisan. He fought in the Polish Legions in World War I, Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918, the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919-1921 and the Polish Sept ...

, the first guerilla commander of the World War II in Europe. Among other artefacts there is a replica of a fuselage section of Halifax (British heavy bomber) and a reconstructed inner structure of a

V-2 rocket The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develop ...

. The reconstruction of a detention cell in which after 1944 Polish Urząd Bezpieczeństwa (Department of Security) held members of the Home Army and postwar

Freedom and Independence Freedom and Independence Association ( pl, Zrzeszenie Wolność i Niezawisłość, or WiN) was a Polish underground anticommunist organisation founded on September 2, 1945 and active until 1952. Political goals and realities The main purpose of it ...

organisation gives the opportunity to experience the communist terror. The museum has an extensive weapon collection, including homemade projectiles. The museum is located at Ulica Wita Stwosza 12, in the Grzegórzki District of Kraków.

References

External links

Official homepage
Home Army Museums in Kraków World War II museums in Poland {{Poland-museum-stub