Four kilometres southeast of the centre of Lublin is the German-Nazi Majdanek extermination camp, where tens of thousands of people, mainly Jews, were murdered during WWII. The Germans went to no effort to conceal Majdanek, as they did at other extermination camps. A 5km walk starts at the visitors centre, passes the foreboding Monument of Fight & Martyrdom, goes through parts of the barracks and finishes at the mausoleum. The camp is accessible by public transport: from the Krakowska Gate, take bus 23.
Coming from the main road, the sudden appearance of time-frozen guard towers and barbed-wire fences interrupting the sprawl of suburbia is disquieting. The details are even more confronting; gas chambers are open to visitors, and many of the prisoners’ possessions are on display. Children under 14 are not permitted.
