Ninety seconds on Warsaw Uprising Museum
Come here to understand the city you are walking through: the 1944 Rising is told at full scale, in objects you can stand beside and films you can sit and watch.
The bomber hanging in the main hall is a full-size replica of a Liberator B-24J, the museum's centrepiece. Aircraft of this type dropped weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to the insurgents.
Around it you find the communications room and a print shop that turns out leaflets and posters of the Rising on original equipment. In a replica of a clandestine cinema you can sit and watch newsreels shot by insurgent cameramen.
The replica sewer is a dark, narrow passage modelled on the sewers insurgents used to move between districts. The Little Insurgent room is a space for children, about the young scouts who served as messengers and medics.
A 3D film reconstructs the destroyed capital from aerial photographs and post-war photo documentation. At five every afternoon a bell rings for W Hour, the moment the Rising began.
Every backpack, bag and umbrella goes into the lockers at the entrance, and coats go to the cloakroom, because none of them may enter the exhibition. Wheelchairs can be hired at the cloakroom.
Load the audio guide onto your own phone before you start. It runs in English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Slovak, Spanish and Ukrainian.
The route then winds through many rooms over several levels and into the panoramic cinema, which screens films about the Rising. Finish by going up the tower, which looks out over Freedom Park and the rebuilt city.
Guided tours run in Polish and other languages. Ask for a guide at the ticket office, or email ekspozycja@1944.pl before you come, since guided places are capped each day.
If the day is full you can still go round alone with the audio guide. Specialist guided visits for visitors with disabilities run on Wednesdays and, on request, on Fridays, so ask the museum which suits you.
Give the museum its own slot early in the day, rather than the last hour after a full day of sightseeing, because the material is heavy. On Thursday the free tickets are handed out only at the ticket office on the day, so come at opening.
Leave luggage at your hotel and wear comfortable shoes. Photography is allowed. If tight spaces bother you, ask staff about the replica sewer before you reach it.
Children under 13 must stay with an adult. Pets are not allowed in, apart from guide dogs, assistance dogs and dogs in training.
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