THE GHETTO

The former Krakow ghetto extended between Lwowska Street, Rękawka Street and Podgórski Square, covering 20 hectares. Established by a decree of March 3, 1941, from March 20, 1941 all non-Jews residing in this area were forced to move to the other side of the Vistula River, while nearly 20,000 Jews were crowded here. The liquidation of the ghetto took place on March 13 and 14, 1943. Its population was deported to Auschwitz or the nearby Plaszów labor camp. In the central square, renamed Heroes' Square, was the Eagle Pharmacy. At that time, a streetcar passed through the ghetto without stopping. Passengers were not allowed to look out the window. There are still some fragments of the ghetto wall, one of which is located between Lwowska Street 25 and 29. It has a commemorative plaque and it is easy to recognize the shape of the arches, which are reminiscent of the Torah scrolls and Jewish tombstones.

Józefińska Street : it is in the main artery of the ghetto that the "path of memory" begins. At No. 10, the agency of the German Employment Office, where Jews were given a "job" without pay. At number 12, the orphanage. No. 14 was the hospital, from which all the wounded who were unable to reach the rally in the central square were shot dead one by one in March 1943. No. 18 was the welfare center for Jews, with a school for 6-14 year olds. Again, all the children were killed during the liquidation of the ghetto.