ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the role that memorial sites located on the grounds of former concentration camps play in public history, the manifestation of which is the activity of the museums located there, the historical policy of the state, as well as organized and spontaneous thanatotourism and the involvement of various groups of visitors. This analysis takes into account the changes that each of these elements has undergone since the times of war till the present day, located in the broader political and cultural context of Poland and the world. It was carried out on the example of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, which is the largest and most recognizable in situ memorial site in Poland – a symbol of World War II and the Holocaust.
