Muzeum Tradycji Niepodległościowych, oddz. "Radogoszcz", EKSPOZYCJA MUZEALNA

Łódź · Łódź

A former Nazi prison during WWII, now a museum dedicated to its victims.

The Germans converted a textile factory built by Samuel Abbe into a police prison within weeks of occupying Łódź in November 1939, run first by the Gestapo and SS and later by the German police, and more than 40,000 people passed through its gates over the next five years. As Soviet forces closed on the city in January 1945, guards shot prisoners in the hospital wing first, then locked those remaining inside the four-storey building and set it alight; the few who lived did so by sheltering in a water tank on the top floor. Walther Pelzhausen, the prison's commandant, was captured after the war and was the only person ever convicted for the massacre, executed in 1948. A museum exhibition opened on the site in 1959.

From riders

What you'll see

A 30 metre memorial spire, raised in 1961, stands beside the surviving four-storey building where the fire took place.

Practical

Open during museum hours. Entry free.

Common questions

Why stop at Muzeum Tradycji Niepodległościowych, oddz. "Radogoszcz", EKSPOZYCJA MUZEALNA on a bike ride?: A former Nazi prison during WWII, now a museum dedicated to its victims.
Where is Muzeum Tradycji Niepodległościowych, oddz. "Radogoszcz", EKSPOZYCJA MUZEALNA?: Muzeum Tradycji Niepodległościowych, oddz. "Radogoszcz", EKSPOZYCJA MUZEALNA is in Łódź, Łódź (Poland).

Checked 13 August 2026

Holocaust historyWwii historyMuseumMemorial