On 27 April 1945 museum director Ernst Fischer decided, together with the employees, that the museum would be closed and turned into a refugee centre.

The first refugees arrived only two days later. They had showered and been given new clothes before they arrived at the museum, where the museum director received them.

Ernst was a member of the Tuesday Club. It was a secret Swedish group that resisted the Nazi system. Going from that to helping the refugees was therefore not a big step for him to take.

“Everyone at the museum – officials, the caretaker,
guards, cleaners, the errand boy – have all gladly made their labour available where it might be needed. It was our self-evident duty to gladly embrace the new tasks.”

Malmö Museum reopened to the public on 4 October 1945.