The prison on Święty Krzyż

On 6 June 1819, under a papal bull, the Benedictine abbey was dissolved. From 1852 to 1865 the buildings housed a correctional house for so-called errant priests, and in the 1880s the Russian authorities set up a penal prison known for its harsh conditions here.

The prison lasted until 1939 and rebuilt the historic complex for its own needs, among other things destroying bays of the Gothic cloisters. One of its inmates was the writer Sergiusz Piasecki, who was held here until 1937 and began writing his novel "The Lover of the Great Bear" in his cell.

In September 1939 the monastery was bombed by the German air force, which destroyed among other things the southern wing of the cloisters. In 1941-1944 the Germans set up a camp for Soviet prisoners of war here; about 4,000 people died in it. The former gatehouse room was then turned into a mortuary for dead prisoners. In the cloisters a modern epitaph commemorates Oblates killed during the Second World War.

After the war the monks rebuilt the destroyed wings, and the sanctuary once again welcomed pilgrims and tourists. A museum was set up in the former prison building.