History/ Background

Less than an hour drive from Warsaw, Poland is the Zafiówka Sanatorium in the province of Otwock. Established in 1908 by the Jewish Organization for the Indigent Nervous and Mentally Ill, the hospital started out with only 95 beds which then increased to 300 by the start of World War II.

By 1941, the Otwock ghetto was established under the guise of a typhus epidemic, no one was allowed out and conditions deteriorated over time. There was overcrowding in Zafiówka; many died of hunger, cold and infection.

On August 19, 1942, the Jewish population in Otwock ghetto reaching over 7000 in numbers were either shot or sent to the death camp at Treblinka. The director of Zafiówka, Dr. Kaufman and most of the other physicians committed suicide after accompanying over 100 patients to the courtyard where they were shot. The few patients who managed to escape were found by local residents and were handed over to the Germans.

The ruins now have stood empty for many years. It has become a popular destination for photographers, tourists, and graffiti artists. The ruins also stand as a reminder of the barbaric acts committed here, and that even in history the mentally ill have been cast aside.

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The Nazis starved many of the patients here to death.

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They then closed the hospital, which meant taking everyone out into the woods and shooting them.

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They also experimented with methods to kill here, gassing etc.

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This was awesome; it's about 5 meters by 4, huge. I would love to know what painting was in it.

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I thought the blue thing was a person.



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The ceiling is collapsing so these nets are catching it.


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It is needed.

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A penis stencil?

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A tunnel in the basement, where does it go?

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It links all separate buildings together.

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Mushrooms

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Stairs behind a wall, which was odd.

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Probably should be in the Photography or World forum...

Very cool - I really dig the columns in #26. "Indigent Nervous" made me snicker too - goes in the same category of "feeble minded" and "pauper lunatics". Long before political correctness was a thing.....

After reading the intro, the first words that popped into my head were

"Those Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat It."

This is a great set, and it is also a reminder that we cannot ever allow humanity to wander down that road again.


Thank you for this set.

Stunning photos and a great, though sad and horrifying write up, thanks for sharing. Those behind the wall stairs were pretty weird...were they part of the tunnels, or a means for escape?

Sad story, but we're left with a wicked cool building to explore.

I'm not so fond pf graffiti in buildings. But picture #25 of the person in the straight jacket staring at the sun is perfect for that building.

Thanks for sharing!