Ostatni lokator pałacu Lubomirskich: Generał Mieczysław Smorawiński

The exhibition is a biographical account of General Smorawinski's life presented in three chapters: the legion period, the inter-war period and the tragic end. The mainstay of the exhibition is the General's unique personal and family memorabilia, which are displayed in a specially designed arrangement. The textual layer is kept to a necessary minimum, dominated by large-format photographic prints and audiovisual elements. Exhibits showcasing the military career include the silver cigarette case that saved his life, the general's cord to his uniform, a mantel clock and correspondence with his wife. The exhibition itself is also a reminder of the fate of thousands of Poles who became victims of repression by Soviet Russia after 17 September 1939.

From 1934 until the outbreak of war, General Smorawiński lived and worked in Lublin in the Lubomirski Palace on Plac Litewski as a commander of the District Corps. In mid-September 1939, he left the city. He was interned by the Soviets on 20 September 1939 in Włodzimierz Wołyński, and was subsequently imprisoned in the NKVD camp at Kozielsk. Only one letter from captivity, dated 21 November 1939, reached the family. The General was murdered on 9 April 1940 in Katyn. The person of Mieczysław Smorawiński - Józef Piłsudski's co-worker and the youngest general of the Second Republic - was the prototype for the general's character in Andrzej Wajda's film Katyń, played by Jan Englert.