The Monument Tree of Pawiak

Pawiak Prison was built in 1835 in Warsaw, Poland. During the 1863 Uprising, it was used as a transit camp for Polish citizens who were sentenced to be deported to Siberia.

However, during World War II, the prison became a Gestapo prison, which was run by the German Gestapo. During this time, approximately 100,000 people were imprisoned in the prison, and out of them, 37,000 died inside the prison, while the rest were transferred to concentration camps. The exact number of Jews who were imprisoned in Pawiak is unknown as the prison archives were never found.

The prison was destroyed during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising and took its name from the street "ulica Pawia," which means "peacock" in Polish.

Outside the museum building, there is a bronze sculpture of an elm tree that represents the original elm tree that grew on the site. The original tree survived the prison's destruction and became a place for families to remember their loved ones who lost their lives in the prison. When the original tree finally died, it was replaced by a bronze tree that continues to serve as a place for remembrance. The families of the victims have placed epitaph plates on the bronze tree since 1945, and flowers are also left in memory of those who lost their lives.