Old town, Jewish quarter and WWII memory

Your journey begins in the heart of Krakow's Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978. Rynek Główny, one of Europe's largest medieval squares at 200 x 200 meters, welcomes you in front of the Cloth Hall (Sukiennice), a 108-meter-long edifice rebuilt in Renaissance style after the 1555 fire. Facing you stands St. Mary's Basilica (Kościół Mariacki), whose construction began in 1365. Before World War II, Jewish families resided in the adjacent neighborhoods, making up about 25% of Krakow's population, or 64,000 people in 1939. This first step immerses you in the splendor of pre-war Krakow, a testament to centuries of coexistence.

Continue towards Wawel Hill, home to Wawel Castle, a royal residence dating back to the 14th century, with reconstructions in the 16th and 17th centuries. Wawel Cathedral (Katedra Wawelska), consecrated in 1364, was a major spiritual center. During the Nazi occupation from 1939 to 1945, the Nazis closed the Cathedral to public worship and used the site for administrative purposes. Unlike Warsaw, this site was not destroyed during World War II, making it an intact architectural testimony of the pre-war era. It is here that you measure the resilience of Małopolska's heritage in the face of historical trials.

Then head to Kazimierz, the Historic Jewish Quarter, founded in 1335 by King Casimir III the Great as an autonomous city. Jews gradually settled there from the 14th century, enjoying royal protection. Before 1939, the district had about 20 synagogues, and seven remain today, including the 16th-century High Synagogue (Synagoga Wysoka). Helena Rubinstein, founder of the cosmetic empire, was born in Kazimierz in 1872. After the war, the district declined until the filming of 'Schindler's List' in 1993, which revitalized its restoration and tourist appeal, offering a perspective on pre- and post-war Jewish life.

The route then leads you to the Podgórze District and the Krakow Jewish Ghetto, established by Nazi decree on March 3, 1941. Of Krakow's 64,000 Jews, approximately 16,000 were concentrated in Podgórze. The ghetto wall was 3 meters high, topped with an arcaded enclosure styled like a macewa, a Jewish tombstone. The Ghetto Heroes Square (formerly Zgody Square) commemorates the victims with chair-sculptures symbolizing emptiness and abandoned objects. Each year, a 'March of Remembrance' departs from here towards the former Płaszów camp, a poignant reminder of Krakow's history during the Shoah in Poland.

Your exploration concludes near Schindler's Factory (Fabryka Emalia Oskara Schindlera), in Podgórze, a few kilometers from the ghetto. It was here that Oskar Schindler employed approximately 1,200 Jewish workers, protecting them from Nazi extermination. The factory is now a museum that recounts the lives of Krakow's inhabitants between 1939 and 1945 and documents the rescue of over 1,000 Jews. This thematic road trip offers a deep immersion into the memory of World War II, allowing you to understand how the history of Krakow, an emblematic city of Małopolska, was written between grandeur and tragedy. You leave with an understanding of the historical monuments of this period and the lives they represent.