“Freedom Is Within Us”

The exhibition was staged in Pavilion XII of the former Mokotow prison. It was here that many opposition activists were held after 13 December 1981. The pavilion and its cells have changed little since then, and the exhibition uses that authentic space to tell visitors about the crimes of martial law, the repression, and the determination of people who refused to accept the breaking of basic civil rights.

The display occupies three floors of the prison pavilion. The ground floor shows how hope was born and then brutally suppressed after martial law was imposed. The first floor presents the reality of the internment camps: correspondence, personal objects and documents. The top level is devoted to the political prisoners held at Mokotow - periscopes set into the cell peepholes carry quotations from those in power at the time.

The motif that joins all parts of the display is freedom of speech, shown as a “rain of leaflets” falling from the top storey of the pavilion down to the ground floor. The showcases hold a suitcase duplicator, a megaphone obtained for the Movement for the Defence of Human and Civic Rights, and a “Radio Solidarity” transmitter. The exhibition has been open since 13 December 2025, Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 to 18.00, admission free.