Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto

On display for the first time outside of Europe, Underground exhibits rare artefacts from the hidden archive of the Warsaw Ghetto. This archive was led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum who initiated an unprecedented campaign to collect material in the ghetto—the collection today known as the Ringelblum Archive. This collective of academics, writers, and activists worked secretly in an attempt to document the mass murder of European Jews as it was happening.

The exhibition tells the story of this act of resistance: a never-ending, arduous, harrowing but ultimately successful attempt to write the story of the Holocaust from the perspective of its victims.

Underground will be open from 17 November 2024 to 30 March 2025.

Tickets on sale from November.

Visitor Information

Recommended age 13+

Allow up to 60 minutes

Remember: bring your mobile device and headphones to take part in the audio elements of the exhibition. There are devices available to borrow from the museum as well.

A special exhibition catalogue will be available for purchase at the museum. This publication was created thanks to the support of Manon Clavel-Solender and Michael Solender

Exhibition Partners

Underground: The Hidden Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto is presented in partnership with the Jewish Historical Institute, Poland, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, and the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism, Germany.

Exhibition Sponsors

The MHM would like to thank our exhibition sponsors:

Gerry and Lillian Pearce
The Embassy for the Federal Republic of Germany

Programming Sponsors

The MHM would like to thank our programming sponsors:

The Jewish Quarterly
The Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, Monash University

Unearthing the first part of the Ringelblum Archive buried in bunkers below the Warsaw Ghetto between 1942-43, Warsaw 1946.The Archive is listed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. L-R: Michał Borwicz & Hersz Wasser. Photo: PAP/Wladyslaw Forbert.
Discovery of the metal boxes with the 1st part of documents of the so called Ringelblum Archives. From left Bluma Wasser, the wife of Hersz Wasser and member of Oneg Shabbat. PAP/Wladyslaw Forbert.
Documents of the Ringelblum Archives removed from the rubble at 68 Nowolipki Street. From right Hersz Wasser. PAP/Wladyslaw Forbert.

01
02
03

We have decided to write our wills, to collect our little material about the deportation, and to bury it all. We must hurry because we are not sure how much time we have. We felt the responsibility. We were not afraid of taking a risk. We were aware that we were making history. And that was more important than our lives."