Expansion of the Permanent Exhibition of the SCWiS in 2020–2021
The new main exhibition at the Silesian Centre for Freedom and Solidarity named after the Nine Miners of “Wujek" was opened on the 40th anniversary of the pacification of the “Wujek" coal mine. It was made available on three levels of the historic building of the former workwear warehouse. The exhibition is devoted primarily to the strike at the mine in December 1981 and to the resistance of Poles against the communist system in the 1980s. Its broad scope refers to the history of this site and to the situation in the country at that time.

The new exhibition is addressed mainly to young people. The previous one occupied approximately 140 m² on the ground floor of the historic building, which was far too little to present all the exhibits held in the SCWiS collections. Currently, the exhibition is located on three levels and covers a total area of more than 1,100 m².

The museum is housed in a historic building located next to the memorial cross, at the intersection of Józef Gallus and Wincenty Pol streets.

Before World War II, this building was used to fill miners’ lamps with carbide; in later years it served as a workwear warehouse, and on 16 December 1981 it became a silent witness to tragic events. It was from the loading ramp of this building that the fatal shots were fired at the miners of the “Wujek" coal mine. The long-running trial and on-site reconstruction proved that several members of the special police platoon fired at the striking miners during the pacification precisely from this location. Today, the ramp constitutes one of the key elements of the exhibition.