The Sybir Memorial Museum in Białystok, Poland, is a municipal public cultural institution, officially founded on 1 January 2017 and ceremonially opened on 17 September 2021 in a repurposed interwar military warehouse at Węglowa 1. The museum’s seat is located just next to the Poleski railway station, which itself was the exact place, where Soviet perpetrators loaded the deportees from Białystok and its surroundings to trains heading to Siberia and Kazakhstan.
Our mission is to document, preserve, and interpret the experiences of Sybiraks - Poles deported to Siberia and other remote regions of the Russian Empire and USSR, spanning from the 17th century through the mid‑20th century. The permanent exhibition blends archival documents, personal objects, oral histories, multimedia installations, and a preserved rail wagon on original tracks.
Conceived as a comprehensive exhibition and educational initiative meant to deepen public awareness of Soviet deportations of Poles, the museum was aimed to construct a historically rigorous, emotionally resonant narrative rooted in survivor testimonies and archival research. It sought to activate collective memory and foster civic dialogue on trauma, resilience, and national identity. The objectives included bridging past and present, enriching historical discourse, and engaging diverse audiences in Poland and abroad.
Behind the core idea there was a team of historians, curators, surviving deportees and their descendants, city officials, and educational partners. Financial backing came from the City of Białystok, Poland’s Ministry of Culture, and the European Regional Development Fund.
The project is grounded in a philosophy of truth‑seeking, respectful memory, and active education. It integrates rigorous scholarship, survivor voices, and accessible interpretive media, aiming to foster empathy, counter historical denial, and contribute to regional and international understanding of mass violence. It is socially relevant by strengthening shared heritage across Eastern Europe and building community cohesion through memory and dialogue.
Siberian Ambient Salon - photo Jan Szewczyk
The Council of Europe Museum Prize 2024
The Sybir Memorial Museum’s unique approach impressed the jury of the Council of Europe Museum Prize. According to the committee representative for the Museum Prize, Constantinos Efstathiou: “The museum works with the strong narrative of deportation, reducing research-based material to the essentials, working with strong spatial images that give a voice to the selected authentic objects. The museum’s ability to convey history through workshops, events, media, publications and new formats is impressive and brings it to a broad audience.”
Highlighted by the jury of the Council of Europe Museum Prize, was also the exhibition’s immersive storytelling: a preserved freight wagon mounted on original tracks, spaces integrated with ambient soundscapes, multimedia reconstructions, and tangible personal artifacts. This pairing of physical space with digital and sensory methods creates empathy without sensationalism, offering visitors both emotional depth and scholarly insight. The museum also hosted the European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA) conference and ceremony in May 2025.
Unlike traditional museums focused purely on objects or documents, Sybir Memorial Museum embeds personal narrative within space and sound. Its survivor‑driven narrative, cross‑generational research collaboration, and interactivity distinguishes it. Additionally, it extends memory beyond Białystok and Poland through international initiatives and community‑driven events.
The project engaged museum curators, historian‑researchers, exhibition designers, educators, cultural volunteers, survivors, descendants, and city partners. Staff worked alongside Sybirak associations, fostering intergenerational transmission of memory. A shared mission emerged: preserving memory in a way that felt authentic and emotionally resonant for both participants and audiences.
Combining academic rigor, inclusive narratives, high‑quality exhibition design, and community co‑creation resulted in professional excellence of the Sybir Memorial Museum. The ability to engage diverse stakeholders—survivors, academics, artists, authorities—and deliver an exhibition that is accessible, impactful and internationally recognized reflects outstanding museum practice.
Memorial Peloton 2024 - photo Jan Szewczyk
Learning history through activity
To convey the history of deportations far beyond the museum’s walls three signature activities are organized on annual basis: the Memorial Peloton, the Sybir Memorial Run, and the Syberian Ambient Salon.
Memorial Peloton is organized in Białystok since the Museum’s creation in 2017. It’s a peaceful, 6–8 km ride through city streets and historic sites tied to Soviet repression and deportation routes. Each stop includes short historical narratives, artistic insallations or reenactments. In 2024, over 150 participants cycled along key locations in Białystok, from the Aleksander Węgierko Theatre to Jagiellońska Street where former deportee families lived, finishing at the Museum itself. The ride concluded with a candle‑lighting ceremony at the Siberian Mother Monument. The initiative became international in 2022: due to the Russian attack on Ukraine we decided to extend the outreach of the Memorial Peloton, organizing near the anniversary of signing the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact on 23rd of August 1939. In 2023 mirror events took place in Vilnius and Riga, while in 2024 we organized the first Peloton in Mereni, Moldova. Each of this places hosts a Peloton or memorial walk also in August 2025.
Another event held each February to mark the anniversary of the first mass deportation on 10 February 1940, the Sybir Memorial Run combines sport and remembrance. The 5 km forest run in Białystok (and since recently also in Wrocław) features historical installations, lighting and smoke effects, together with multimedia projections and ambient art installations. The recent editions included both live events in Białystok and Wrocław, as well as a virtual edition lasting from February 8 to 28, allowing participants worldwide to contribute kilometers to a global total. This enabled even those afar to honor Sybir victims, while local runners toured the forest routes by night amid immersive scene setting.
Innovative in format, the Siberian Ambient Salon transforms museum exhibition space into an experiential soundscape. Ambient music inspired by Siberian nature and throat singing traditions immersed audiences in sonic textures evoking emotional distance. The events incorporated multimedia installations and curated DJs to deepen emotional resonance with the deportation experience. These programs merge museum interpretation with contemporary ambient and modern classical genres, engaging new audiences in meaningful remembrance contexts.
These outreach initiatives expand the Museum’s influence by blending memory and art, sport and storytelling, local history and transnational solidarity. They demonstrate how museological excellence can manifest through dynamic public engagement, cross‑border partnerships, and experiential formats appealing to broad, diverse audiences.