Cold War Museum

The museum documents the history of several decades of international tensions and conflicts, from the collapse of the anti-Hitler coalition after World War II to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
You will learn how, after imposing the communist system on Poland and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the “evil empire” sought to introduce its rule around the world. You will become acquainted with the details of the world’s division into two hostile blocs, the nuclear arms race, the rivalry between the USA and the USSR in space, and track how the informal alliance of President Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher finally led to the taming of Russian imperialism.
An array of multimedia showcases the heroism of oppositionists, statements by the most important actors on the political scene, and unusual events such as the detonation of the most powerful nuclear bomb ever created (the Soviet Tsar Bomba). Through the periscope of a Soviet submarine, you’ll spy on American ships during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when a nuclear conflict and World War III almost broke out.
You will also learn about the dramatic fate of Ryszard Kukliński—a colonel in the General Staff of the Polish People’s Army. Knowing the balance of power and plans for Polish forces to strike the countries of Western Europe, he assumed that NATO’s nuclear counterattack would take place on the territory of his country. Driven by a desire to prevent war and the destruction of Poland, at a time when tens of thousands of Soviet troops were stationed here, he selflessly passed on classified information to the CIA. You will comprehend the reality of the threat thanks to maps of the planned attack by the armed forces of the Warsaw Pact using nuclear weapons stored in Poland, signed by Soviet commanders and Poland’s leader at the time, General Wojciech Jaruzelski. You will feel the thrill of playing the role of agent in one of the virtual reality games.
Test your knowledge by taking a quiz containing over a dozen questions about the era. The museum’s headquarters also have a Cold War history of their own. During the Polish People’s Republic, the tenement above it housed a communist militia post. During martial law in Poland, it was there that high school graduate Grzegorz Przemyk was beaten to death.