Insights into the History of Jews in Krakow & Poland
As we travel around Europe, one focus of interest is always the experience of Jews during the second world war. Both Prague and Budapest have significant “Jewish Quarters” with synagogues and museums to tell the story. There’s a Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, another in Washington D. C. and many more in America and around the world. In Krakow we learned why Poland may have suffered more extensively than elsewhere during WWII.
Poland had welcomed the Jews: From medieval times through the beginning of the 20th century, Poland was the most tolerant country in Europe. In 1343, when Jews were persecuted and expelled from Western European nations, Casimir the Great invited them to Poland. Jews also came from the East, trying to escape Russian pogroms and persecution. Krakow, back then Poland’s capital, became a rich cultural center where Jews were welcomed and thrived. By the mid-1930’s, Poland was home to more Jews than any other country in Europe. Kazimierz was the center of Jewish life in those times, until the arrival of the Nazi’s.
Nazi Occupation: When the Nazi’s occupied Poland, all that changed. Initially, to improve Krakow’s “racial cleanliness,” Jews were required to leave the city. Some found room in Kazimierz while most were resettled elsewhere. In 1941, the Nazi’s established the Krakow Ghetto in the Podgorze district, just across the river. All remaining Jews in Krakow, about 16,000, were forced into this Ghetto. Over time the Nazis decreased the size of the Ghetto while forcing more and more Jews into it.
“Work Camp” at Plaszow: Meanwhile, near the ghetto, the Nazis built Plaszow, initially a forced labor camp, but by 1943 it had become another concentration camp. In March 1943, the Kraków Ghetto was liquidated: Jews who could work were sent to Plaszow, while others were simply shot or sent directly to Auschwitz. By the time Russian soldiers arrived to “liberate” the camp, there was nothing and no one left.
The Nazis built six death camps in German occupied Poland and moved quickly to accomplish their “Final Solution,” the murder of all Jews. The most notorious of those concentration camps, Auschwitz-Birkenau is just a short daytrip from Krakow. It would not be a fun or happy experience, but we knew we had to go.
We prepared for these experiences:
From “The U.S. and the Holocaust,” a Ken Burns documentary, we learned how America stayed out of WWII for so long. At the time many Americans accepted theories about racial hierarchies, while America turned away boats filled with Jews seeking refuge status. It took the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 to bring the USA into the war.
From Stephen Spielberg’s acclaimed film “Schindler’s List,” starring Liam Neeson as Oscar Schindler, we learned about the Nazi occupation in Krakow, and especially about how Schindler was able to save more than a thousand Polish Jews as workers in his enamel factory. Schindler was a Nazi Party member, and well-connected with the Nazi leaders, so some may question considering him a hero. But without those connections and his Nazi affiliations, he would never have been able to do what he did. We learned that Spielberg’s film is quite accurate in its portrayal of Schindler effectively using his Nazi connections to recall a trainload of women heading for their death in Auschwitz, and to bring them back to work at his factory. It is also accurate in its portrayal of Nazi brutality, such as Amon Goeth, Camp Commander of the Plaszow Concentration Camp, who enjoyed target practice by randomly killing prisoners from the balcony of his office.
Two Walking tours with Krakow Explorers: Our tour guide for both tours was Chris, an archeologist and historian who led us through the city streets and really brought the story of Krakow to life. We enjoyed the first tour so much that we signed up for another. [Krakow Explorers offers “Free Tours.” You can book ahead or just show up and enjoy the tour. It’s free, but you’re encouraged to tip the guide what you think the experience is worth. We tipped well.] Krakow Explorers
- The Jewish Quarter (1st walking tour): From the Main Square we walked through Kazimierz and Podgorse, where the Nazi occupiers established a labor camp for Poles and the Krakow Ghetto, where all Jews were forced to live, until sent to Plaszow, the Nazi concentration camp that functioned from 1942 to 1945. In 1938, Krakow was home to 60,000+ Jews. By 1945 there may have been a hundred or less. And today the Jewish population of Poland is still very small. They have not returned.
- Under Two Regimes (2nd walking tour): This focused on life in Krakow/Poland under two occupations. First was the Nazi regime of oppression not only for Jews but for Poles as well. At the end of WWII, Poles were thrilled to be liberated, only to discover that they would now be dominated by a Communist regime connected to Stalin’s USSR. Poland would not really be free and independent until 1989. We saw the architecture and learned about life under the regimes.
Heroes Square: The Nazis would gather Jews in Zgody Square before sending them off to die at Auschwitz or Plaszow. Today, it’s called Heroes Square and features 70 oversized chairs to commemorate the people of Krakow’s Ghetto who were brought here and sent to their death.
Oscar Schindler’s Enamel Factory in Krakow is today a highly rated Krakow Museum, whose primary exhibit is “Kraków under Nazi Occupation 1939–1945.” We found the museum to be powerful and moving. If you’re in Krakow, this is a must see. No photos allowed so we cannot share much with you.
Walking the Concentration Camp: Finally, we took a daytrip to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau. Auschwitz was the forced labor work camp. Auschwitz-Birkenau (or Auschwitz II) was the death camp. The camps were several Kilometers apart. You all know the stories, what happened in these places. But being there, walking along the train tracks where trainloads of starving human beings were unloaded and selected for immediate death or working toward slow starvation, seeing the rooms where hundreds of naked men and women were gassed, and the ovens in which their bodies were cremated. Pictures and words cannot fully convey what it’s like to be there. It fills one with sadness over the tragedies, anger at humans who could do such things to other humans, and frustration knowing that this is not ancient history, that similar trends are alive today, and that brutality, cruelty, and injustice continue.
No, the pictures cannot fully convey it. But they’re the closest we can come. So we let the pictures say what they can. And we hope and pray that the world will remember and never let anything like this ever happen again.
