Prywatne Muzeum Polsko-Amerykańskie "Hell's Angel" w Wadowicach

About the museum

The Prywatne Muzeum Polsko-Amerykańskie “Hell’s Angel” (Private Polish-American Museum “Hell’s Angel”) was founded in 1991 by the collector and regional historian Zygmunt Kraus, the owner of the collections. Since 2012 the museum has been run by his son, Jacek. The institution is dedicated to the memory of Polish and American airmen and soldiers of the Home Army (AK) who died fighting for Poland’s freedom during the Second World War.

The main theme is the American B-24 Liberator bomber “Hell’s Angel”, shot down on 13 September 1944 after a raid on the chemical works in Oświęcim; its wreckage fell at Zygodowice. The exhibition shows parts of the aircraft, personal belongings and uniforms of the crew, and souvenirs of the American airmen’s involvement in the fighting over Poland.

Other exhibitions in the museum include ones on the youth of Karol Wojtyła and his painter friends, on Wadowice during the occupation and the “Cursed Soldiers” (żołnierze wyklęci), on Polish-American brotherhood in arms (souvenirs of Kościuszko, Pułaski, Paderewski and General Haller), on the anniversaries of the Baptism of Poland, on the Smolensk air crash, and on the Jews of Wadowice.

Highlights

• Parts of the B-24 Liberator bomber “Hell’s Angel” and memorabilia of the crew
• Exhibition on Karol Wojtyła and his painter friends
• Exhibition “Wadowice w latach okupacji” (Wadowice During the Occupation)
• History of the Polish-American brotherhood in arms
• Collections of Judaica related to the Jews of Wadowice

Permanent exhibitions

• „Hell's Angel” – załoga Liberatora B-24 – Parts of the aircraft, personal belongings and uniforms of the airmen, and souvenirs of the American airmen’s involvement in the fighting over Poland; a separate place is devoted to Polish airmen.
• Karol Wojtyła w otoczeniu swoich przyjaciół malarzy – Documents of the family of the future pope, photographs from his youth and profiles of artists, mainly professors of the Wadowice gymnasium.
• Wadowice w latach okupacji – An exhibition on the town and its residents during the Second World War and the first years after it, with a section on the “Cursed Soldiers”.

Founded

1991

Operated by

Prywatne muzeum rodziny Kraus

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