Kazimierz & the Ghetto: WWII Kraków from Two Perspectives

Experience World War II in Kraków through the eyes of Poles and Polish Jews, with a licensed guide who was born and raised in Kraków. For centuries, Christian and Jewish communities lived close to each other in Kazimierz, each with its own traditions, institutions and way of life. We’ll begin in the Catholic part of the district and continue to Jewish Kazimierz, with its historic synagogues and cemetery, to understand the vibrant community that once made up about a quarter of Kraków’s population. Then we’ll cross the river to Podgórze, where the Nazi occupiers created the ghetto. You’ll see the remaining fragments of the ghetto wall, the memorial on Ghetto Heroes Square and the pharmacy whose Polish owner helped its residents. You’ll learn how both communities lived under occupation, about resistance, rescue and survival, and what remains today. As a private tour, it adapts to your interests and pace, with time for questions and reflection.

1. Wolnica Square and Corpus Christi Basilica. The heart of Christian Kazimierz and the story of its neighbouring Jewish community. 2. Plac Nowy. The former Jewish market square, with its round market hall, once a kosher poultry slaughterhouse. 3. Szeroka Street. The historic centre of Jewish Kazimierz and its religious and community life before the war. 4. Remuh Synagogue and Old Jewish Cemetery. An active synagogue and one of Europe’s oldest Jewish cemeteries. 5. Old Synagogue. The oldest surviving synagogue building in Poland (optional entry). 6. Ghetto Heroes Square. The memorial of empty chairs, the history of the ghetto, and the Eagle Pharmacy, whose Polish owner Tadeusz Pankiewicz helped its residents. 7. Ghetto Wall. A surviving fragment of the wall that cut the ghetto off from the rest of the city. 8. Father Bernatek Footbridge. We’ll cross back over the Vistula and finish the tour at Wolnica Square.