Poland Travel: Krakow Ghetto, Oscar Schindler Factory, Kazimierz & Tyniec

• published: 13 Aug 2012
• views: 698

May 7 was a rainy and overcast day in Krakow. My expert guide Monica first took me on a tour of the Krakow Ghetto, where from March 1941 about 15,000 Jewish residents were crammed into a small area of 320 buildings that used to be inhabited by only 3,000 people. The ghetto was liquidated by the Nazis between May 1942 and March 1943, when most of the inhabitants were deported to the Plaszow Labour Camp and to Auschwitz. The second stop on our walking tour on May 7, 2012 was the Schindler Factory, owned by the iconic entrepreneur Oscar Schindler who saved over 1,100 Jewish lives in his enamelware and ammunition factory during WWII. Since 2010 the factory has been turned into a museum that documents the Nazi occupation of Krakow with photos, movies, authentic artifacts and multimedia experiences. It's an amazing museum where I could have spent many hours, studying original photos and objects. The we crossed the bridge over into Kazimierz, Krakow's historic Jewish quarter. We visited the Old Synagogue, the Remuth Synagogue and its cemetery as well as the Temple, Krakow's lavishly ornamented Reform synagogue. Kazimierz also has a Christian part and in my walking tour with my expert guide Monica we visited three important Roman Catholic Churches: the Gothic Corpus Christi Church, St. Catherine's Church (also Gothic), and the lavish Baroque Church on the Rock, Poland's second holiest sanctuary. We also visited the Market Square of Kazimierz which now holds an ethnographical museum. At the end of our walking tour we crossed the entire Old Town of Krakow and headed north of the St. Florian's Gate to a local outdoor market where everything was on sale: fruits, vegetables, meat, clothing, household goods and much more. Shopping locally on the markets is still an important tradition in Poland. I was particularly fascinated by the country cheeses that are made in decorated moulds. They looked delicious... Finally, in the late afternoon, I took a tram and a local bus to the Benedictine Abbey of Tyniec which is located on a steep limestone outcropping on the right bank of the Vistula outside of Krakow. The monastery was founded in 1044 AD and is one of the oldest in Poland. Normally, there is a wonderful view from the abbey over the surrounding countryside, but not on this day due to the rainy weather.