Thinking on our feet

Today we were on our feet from 9 am till 7 pm, touring the Kazimierz district, the former ghetto area, Schindler's factory, and the city center. We began just outside our hotel in Kazimierz, and visited the exteriors of 5 (or 6? I've lost count) synagogues and interiors of two. The first of those two was the Rema Synagogue, the prayer house of the 16th century famous Rabbi Moshe Isserles, also known as the Rema. This is the only still regularly functioning synagogue, although the other synagogues are still standing and their interiors have been restored. The Rema Synagogue also stands next to a 16th century cemetery, which was also left untouched during the war, since it was mostly covered by dirt, and was only excavated in later years. We also entered the Stara (Old) Synagogue, named such because it was the first one built in the area, which now houses a museum to Jewish life in earlier centuries.

We then crossed the river towards the area of the World War II period Jewish ghetto--a sectioned off part of an industrial section in Krakow. Only a small piece of the ghetto wall remains, but the buildings are mostly the old ones, and the main square, where rounding-ups took place, is now a memorial to the people who lived in the ghetto. Next stop was the site of Oskar Schinder's factory, the place where Oskar Schindler famously saved the people on his list of "workers" from the nearby camp of Plaszow and other camps as well. The factory now houses an outstanding museum to the history of Krakow during the years 1939 till 1945, featuring period reconstructions of streets, shops, trams, offices, homes, and more. Through these reconstructions, the museum puts you right in the lives of the people of Krakow--Jews and otherwise--and brings you through the years of the war. The museum was very interesting in its portrayal of the war. It was clear they were trying to strike a balance between telling the story of the people of Krakow as a whole and the story of the Jews of Krakow, and at any point possible, tried to weave together these two stories. For example, there was a section on life before the war, which had wall-size pictures of Jews and non-Jews alike lounging in the park, and in the next section, had posters with announcements from the Nazis--some posters meant for everyone, many just for Jews. In this way, I think the museum tried to show that before the war, Jews were Poles, and there was no difference between them and other Poles besides their religion. However, as the "war" years went on in the museum, it was clear that the Jews and other Poles' lives mostly diverged--the only contact between the two groups was through resistance, another subject highly featured in the museum. The portrayal of the end of the war was also interesting. This was signified through a large portrait of Stalin, and then a kind of rubber floor (kind of like walking on a trampoline), that signified that even though the war was over, people were still uncertain. After this room, there was a circular room much like the one at Yad Vashem, but instead of featuring names or pictures, the walls here had quotes from Jews described how various Poles helped them throughout the war. After this room, the last room was the so-called "Room of Choices," which featured two "books" with touchscreens, one book telling of Poles who helped the Jews (complete with a list of Righteous Gentiles, including Marisia), and one telling of Poles who worked against them. I thought it was very well done, and I'm glad that the museum is there for all kinds of people to visit.

Next we toured the city center, and got a taste of everything there was to see! We walked through Wawel Hill, the site of the former Royal Castle, saw the area of the Jagiellonian University, the second oldest in Central Europe, and then walked around the Market Square and toured St. Mary's Cathedral, a huge, beautifully decorated hall that rivaled the gilded interior of the Royal Cathedral we saw on Wawel Hill.

Anyway, tonight we're having Shabbat Dinner at a different hotel, and tomorrow morning we're going to services at the Rema Synagogue. Then, the highlight of the Jewish Festival begins--a 7 hour concert on the main street of Kazimierz (and the street of our hotel). Shabbat Shalom from Krakow!

Interior of the Stara Synagogue

Ceiling of St. Mary's Cathedral