Krakow – Who Knew?

We arrived in Krakow, Poland at 7am this morning, over an hour late. Apparently our train had broken down at some point during the night, however I did not mind because getting into Krakow on schedule, at 5:45am, was not my idea of fun. We parted ways with Mike and Carol, and set off for our hostel. Unlike our last digs, which were gross, this hostel is clean and the toilets all work. It also has free WiFi, which makes me incredibly happy. After checking in, we decided to start exploring the city.

The hostel is located in the part of town called Kazimierez, once home to the Jewish residents of Krakow. The first Jewish settlers arrived in the mid 1500’s and over the years, as the population expanded, a rich cultural history was written by the ensuing generations. During WWII, the 65,000 Jews living in the city were forced into a ghetto across the river from Kazimierez. All but 6,000 were killed during the Holocaust, and there are less than 200 Jews living in present-day Krakow. Given our location, it was only natural that we started wandering through this part of town first. We walked to the High Synagogue, so named because the temple is located on the second floor, primarily for reasons of safety. Though no longer in use, the interior has been preserved as best as possible, and now includes a photo exhibit of former members, many of whom were on Oskar Schindler’s list.

As we exited the synagogue, we made our way to the Galicia Jewish Museum. We spent the next hour and a half wandering through the photography exhibits. The first was a series of portraits featuring Polish recipients of the Righteous Among Nations award. Accompanying each large-format photograph was a personal history of the person, and the Jew or Jews they helped save during the war. Reading the stories, and then exploring the subsequent exhibit featuring historic sites of Polish Jewry, was a very moving experience. I finally felt I understood the passage from the Talmud that states “To save a life is to save the world” – the exhibit pointed out how the Righteous Among Nations recipients didn’t just save one Jew, they saved the future children and grandchildren and so on of those people as well. Much the same, the exhibit pointed out that those who take a life take a world, because they are depriving the world of the progeny of that person.

An hour and a half later, we left the museum and made our way to the old Jewish Cemetery attached to the Remuh Synagogue. Though the Synagogue itself it tiny, it is the only one in Krakow still used for services. Within the gates of the cemetery, built into one of the stone walls surrounding the graves is the “wailing wall”, so called because it is constructed from the fragments of headstones broken by the Nazis during the war. There are still many graves within the cemetery, many of which were found during reconstruction efforts – apparently, the local Jews buried the grave markers to prevent them from being destroyed.

We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant serving Jewish cuisine and had a wonderful meal of cottage cheese and potato-filled pierogis, salads and local Polish white wine. Feeling full, we decided it was time for a nap! After a few hours of rest, we were ready to explore more of Krakow. Heading out of the hostel, we wandered toward the old town. Our first stop was the Bernardine Church. Typical of the churches we’ve seen, it was rather large and ornate. After a short time, we walked up the hill to the Wawel Castle. Built in the 10th century, this castle was home to the kings of Poland for over 500 years until the capital was moved from Krakow to Warsaw in the mid 16th-century. The grounds atop the hill were beautiful, and although we didn’t get a chance to go inside the castle palace, we were able to enter the cathedral, where St. Stanislaus is buried. The cathedral was beautiful, and there were some particularly striking works of art, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

As we exited the other side of the castle, we found our way into the old town. There was a cycling race taking up the entire square, which we watched for a brief moment before wandering the streets of the old town. We made note of all the things we’d like to see over the next few days. Stopping for dinner at a kebab place, we quickly ate our food in order to make a concert at 8pm. Held in the Church of Peter and Paul, it was a beautiful setting for the string quintet, which played selected works from Mozart, Bach and several other composers. Having gotten there early, we had front pew seats. There was one piece that featured a pompous trumpet player who kept trying to conduct the rest of the group when he wasn’t playing. Every time he’d turn his back, the other musicians would throw each other looks of sarcasm. It was quite a funny sight to see. I truly enjoyed the concert, and it was a relaxing was to end the evening.

Tomorrow we are going to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, which is about an hour outside of Krakow. I am nervous, but I think it will be an important trip for us to make.