"Podgorze" Krakow Things to Do Tip by Dabs

The 2nd part of the free walking tour of the Jewish Quarter was in another neighborhood called Podgorze which is south of the Vistula (Wisla) River. In March 1941 the Jews were forced to move here from Kazimierz into the ghetto, sealed off by high walls. In March 1943 the population that still survived was either moved to a forced labor camp in Plaszow, executed or sent to an extermination camp.

We crossed over the bridge on ul. Starowislna from Kazimierz to visit the center of what was the Jewish ghetto, Pl. Bohaterow Getta, where you will now find an open expanse dotted with metal chairs, a memorial to the Jewish people. The idea for the memorial came from the memoir of pharmacist who witnessed the Nazis ransacking the homes and smashing the remaining furniture when they cleared out the ghetto in March 1943.

A little further on you can see part of the ghetto wall and another short walk will take you to Oskar Schindler's factory, a museum is scheduled to open here in June 2010.