Pawiak prison museum

Pawiak prison museum, Warsaw - darkometer rating : 7 - A museum in the partly reconstructed basement of a former prison building, which today is one of Warsaw 's most important monuments to the Polish resistance during World War II because it was used by the Nazis during the German occupation, in particular for holding political prisoners and members of the resistance. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: The original prison was built in 1835 and had already served a grim purpose under Russian Tsarist rule, but during its final five years it was used by the Nazis as the largest political prison in Poland during the occupation of Warsaw in World War II . In effect, the prison was something like an inner-city concentration camp . It is estimated that about 100,000 to 120,000 prisoners passed through Pawiak, mostly members of the underground resistance army AK and other political prisoners. Some 37,000 prisoners were executed and another 60,000 sent on to concentration camps in Germany and Poland , especially to Auschwitz . Prisoners were frequently transferred to the Gestapo headquarters at al. Szucha for brutal interrogation. Internment at the prison itself wasn't much better, given the overcrowded conditions and general mistreatment. This included the deliberate malnourishment of inmates, which was only partially alleviated by the extra provisions that relatives could deliver once a month during visits … until 1942, that is, when Trawniki took over and conditions deteriorated even more. During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943, Pawiak prison served as a base for the crushing of the resistance, and as a place of indiscriminate killing.