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The
Kazimierz Jewish Town
In 1495 King Jan I Olbracht transferred
Krakow Jews to the nearby royal city of Kazimierz, which gave rise to its once
bustling Jewish quarter and a major European
center of the Diaspora for the next three
centuries. With time it turned into virtually
separate and self-governed 34-acre Jewish
Town, a model of every East European shtetl,
within the limits of the gentile city of
Kazimierz. As refugees from all over Europe kept
coming to find the safe haven here, its
population reached 4,500 by 1630.
Jewish
Landmarks in the Kazimerz District
Strolling old narrow streets of the
eastern half of Krakow’s Kazimierz district one
still finds a unique atmosphere of the Jewish
past of this area. To it attest also the exhibits
of the Museum of Judaism at 24 Szeroka street, in the
stately brick building of the Old
Synagogue,
dating back to the 15th century and rebuilt to
Renaissance tastes in the 1560s. Other
interesting synagogues are Isaac's Synagogue at 25 Jakuba street
(17th c., Baroque), High Synagogue at 38 Jozefa street (16th c.,
late-Gothic/Renaissance), Tempel at 24
Miodowa street
(19th c., neo-Romanesque), Popper's Synagogie at 16 Szeroka street
(17th c., Baroque), and Remuh Synagogue at 40 Szeroka Street
(l6th c., Renaissance) with the adjoining Remuh
Cemetery.
Kazimierz's
Old Jewish Cemetery
Remuh
cemetry by the
Remuh Synagogue at 40 Szeroka Street was named
after the nickname of famous 16th-century rabbi
and religious writer Moses Isserles. Even today
pious Jews keep coming to pray at his grave and
the graves of their other great men who were
buried here. The cemetery was used from 1551 to
1800. Its hundreds old tombstones, dating mostly
from the Renaissance, as well as its history and
surroundings make the Remuh Cemetery one of
Europe's most interesting.
Holocaust
in Krakow
In March 1941 the German
war administration forced all Krakow Jews to
resettle in the newly created ghetto north of the
Kazimierz area. The Nazis liquidated it only two
years later on March 13, 1943. Most of the 17,000
ghetto inhabitants perished in the Nazi
concentration camps, such as Auschwitz and Krakow’s Plaszow whose site
has been turned into a commemoration park with an
impressive monument.
Memorial to victims of the Krakow
ghetto in the form of oversized bronze chairs on the Plac Bohaterow Ghetta.
Bustling
and Lively Again
Kazimierz
district has become newly fashionable in the recent decade. With its mushrooming
cafes and nightlife spots,
it has
become Krakow’s equivalent of London’s Soho, Paris’
Quartier Latin, and New York’s Village. Kazimierz district's recreated Jewish
past and newborn reputation as a haven of artists and the young
have made the rundown area near the Old
Town trendy among tourists and the locals
alike.
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Stroll
through Krakow's Kazimierz District
Old
Synagogue
Krakow's
synagogues
Center
for Jewish Culture
Auschwitz
Poland's prime tourist attraction and a
must in Central Europe boasts numerous
world-class monuments, charming vistas,
delightful atmosphere, and the best restaurants.
In
the proximity of Krakow
Krakow is Poland's tourist mecca, and
also a gateway to many other must-see sites in
the region.
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