A chilling recollection of Polish Jewry and the only institution in Poland focusing entirely on the study of the history and culture of the Polish Jews. This amazing building houses permanent and temporary exhibits relating to secular and religious Jewish life in the country from its beginnings to the annihilation during WWII and beyond. As well as an excellent bookshop, the institute’s museum, opened in 1948, features a large interactive display in the entrance hall that allows its users to find out about Jewish life in any part of the country, an extraordinary Warsaw Ghetto exhibition, religious treasures, an archive and a small cinema. Particularly poignant is the collection of photographs taken in the Warsaw Ghetto by Heinz Jost, a German innkeeper who served in the German army and whose photographs speak volumes about the era. Essential visiting.

Admission 10/5zł