Warsaw – Museum of Warsaw (Ravensbrück Concentration Camp Uniform)

Just a few more posts left about my visit to the Museum of Warsaw a couple of weeks ago.

Concentration camp uniforms are always challenging exhibits for any museum, a tangible reminder of the horrors that took place during the Second World War.

This uniform is marked with a ‘P’, meaning that the prisoner was Polish and this is from Ravensbrück concentration camp. It was owned by Maria Bortnowska (1894-1972) who was an activist for the Polish Red Cross and also a fighter in the Polish Home Army. Unfortunately, she is an another victim of the Soviet takeover of Poland after the end of the Second World War, as she started to investigate the Katyn Massacre where hundreds of Poles were killed by the Soviets. She was imprisoned, although the authorities had to release her when evidence came in from other survivors at Ravensbrück about her good conduct. Maria’s family donated the uniform to the museum in 1973 and I think it’s one of the most exhibits in their collection.