It was here, in rooms on the first and second floors, that interrogations went on for hours. The cellars, adapted as cells, were turned into a detention centre. The Gestapo tortured and mutilated prisoners here, and sometimes the interrogations ended in death. This is why the Museum is located here today, to preserve the memory of the victims, to bear witness to the tragic events of the past. The building on Pomorska Street houses an exhibition entitled 'The People of Kraków in Times of Terror 1939–1945–1956', which tells the difficult history of the city. The exhibition consists of three parts. The first presents the activities of the Society for the Defence of the Western Borderlands of Poland (Towarzystwo Obrony Zachodnich Kresów Polski) and the history of the Silesian House (Dom Śląski). The second part presents the stories of selected individuals – victims of German terror during the occupation of Poland 1939–1945. The third part of the exhibition is devoted to the period 1945–1956, and provides information about the different attitudes of the population towards ‘the people's power’ imposed by force on Polish society. Through personal memorabilia, photographs, documents and recordings, Pomorska Street tells the story of people's attitudes to terror as well as the similarities between the two totalitarian systems: the Nazi system and the Communist system.