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Explore a timeline of key events during the history of the Krakow ghetto in German-occupied Poland.
The Krakow ghetto in German-occupied Poland held over 15,000 Jews. Learn more about Krakow and the ghetto’s history during the Holocaust and WWII.
The German army occupied Krakow, Poland, in September 1939. In March 1941, the Germans ordered the establishment of a ghetto in Krakow. In this footage, Polish Jews are forced to move into the Krakow ghetto. They wear the required armbands, used to distinguish the Jewish population from the rest of the city's residents. By late 1941, there were some 18,000 Jews imprisoned in the Krakow ghetto.
Deportation from the Krakow ghetto at the time of the ghetto's liquidation. Krakow, Poland, March 1943.
March 13-16, 1943. On this date, SS and police authorities liquidated the Krakow ghetto.
March 3-20, 1941. During these dates, German authorities announced, established, and sealed the Krakow ghetto.
A member of the German SS supervises the boarding of Jews onto trains during a deportation action in the Krakow ghetto. Krakow, Poland, 1941–1942.
Scene of prewar economic life: Jewish vendors sell their wares at an outdoor market in front of the Stara synagogue. Krakow, Poland, 1936.
In December 1939, German authorities required Jews residing in the Generalgouvernement (which included Krakow) to wear white armbands with blue Stars of David for purposes of identification. The armband pictured here was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2001 by Akiva Kohane.
Zofia Burowska (Chorowicz) donated this doll, which dates from the 1930s, to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Zofia's parents gave her the doll before the war and she kept it with her in the Wolbrum and Krakow ghettos, Poland. The doll and some of her family's other belongings were left with non-Jewish friends for safekeeping. Zofia was deported to a forced-labor camp for Jews near Krakow, to the Skarzysko-Kamienna camp (also in Poland), and then to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany,…
The Germans occupied Krakow in 1939. Murray's family was confined to the Krakow ghetto along with the rest of the Jewish population of the city. In 1942, Murray and a brother were deported for forced labor in the nearby Plaszow camp. In May 1944, his brother was transferred to Auschwitz and Murray was sent to the Gross-Rosen camp in Germany. Murray was later transferred to Bruennlitz, in the Sudetenland, as a forced laborer for German industrialist Oskar Schindler. Schindler helped the Jews who worked for…
SS chief Heinrich Himmler reviews a unit of SS-police in Krakow, Poland, March 13, 1942.
Scene from one of Oskar Schindler's parties in Krakow. At such events, Schindler (second from left) attempted to bribe Nazi officials for information about imminent deportations. Krakow, Poland, 1943.
View of a barbed-wire fence separating part of the ghetto in Krakow from the rest of the city. Krakow, Poland, date uncertain. During the Holocaust, the creation of ghettos was a key step in the Nazi process of brutally separating, persecuting, and ultimately destroying Europe's Jews. Ghettos were often enclosed districts that isolated Jews from the non-Jewish population and from other Jewish communities.
John, who was born to a non-Jewish Polish family, graduated from an art academy. Following the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, John was in Krakow. Food became scarce in Krakow, with long lines of people waiting for whatever food was available. John decided to join the resistance against the Germans. By early 1940, he and two of his friends felt that they were in danger and decided to try to escape to France. John was caught and arrested during this escape attempt. He survived imprisonment…
Leopold was a teacher in Krakow, Poland, when World War II began in 1939. While serving in the Polish army, he was captured by Germans. Leopold escaped from a prisoner-of-war transport. Soon after, he met the German industrialist Oskar Schindler. The two became friends. Leopold was forced to live in the Krakow ghetto. He later worked in Schindler's factory in Bruennlitz. He and the other Jews who worked there were treated relatively well and protected from the Nazis. After the war, Leopold moved to the…
John, who was born to a non-Jewish Polish family, graduated from an art academy. Following the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, John was in Krakow. Food became scarce in Krakow, with long lines of people waiting for whatever food was available. John decided to join the resistance against the Germans. By early 1940, he and two of his friends felt that they were in danger and decided to try to escape to France. John was caught and arrested during this escape attempt. He survived imprisonment…
Leah grew up in Praga, a suburb of Warsaw, Poland. She was active in the Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir Zionist youth movement. Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. Jews were forced to live in the Warsaw ghetto, which the Germans sealed off in November 1940. In the ghetto, Leah lived with a group of Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir members. In September 1941, she and other members of the youth group escaped from the ghetto to a Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir farm in Zarki, near Czestochowa, Poland. In May 1942, Leah became a courier…
Ruth was four years old when the Germans invaded Poland and occupied Ostrowiec. Her family was forced into a ghetto. Germans took over her father's photography business, although he was allowed to continue working outside the ghetto. Before the ghetto was liquidated, Ruth's parents sent her sister into hiding, and managed to get work at a labor camp outside the ghetto. Ruth also went into hiding, either in nearby woods or within the camp itself. When the camp was liquidated, Ruth's parents were split up.…
Ruth was four years old when the Germans invaded Poland and occupied Ostrowiec. Her family was forced into a ghetto. Germans took over her father's photography business, although he was allowed to continue working outside the ghetto. Before the ghetto was liquidated, Ruth's parents sent her sister into hiding, and managed to get work at a labor camp outside the ghetto. Ruth also went into hiding, either in nearby woods or within the camp itself. When the camp was liquidated, Ruth's parents were split up.…
Oskar Schindler (left) at his enamel works in Zablocie, a suburb of Kraków. Poland, 1943-1944.
Amon Goeth (front left), commandant of the Plaszow camp, under escort to the courthouse in Kraków for sentencing. He was sentenced to death at his postwar trial on war crimes charges. Kraków, Poland, August 1946.
The Płaszów camp was established in Krakow, Poland, in 1942. Learn more about the camp during the war, including Oskar Schindler’s involvement.
Oskar Schindler's actions to protect Jews during the Holocaust saved over 1,000 Jews from deportation. Learn more about Schindler's List.
Amalie was one of three daughters born to Jewish parents. The family lived in Stanislav [Stanislawow], Poland. Her father was an ardent supporter of resettlement in Palestine, and dreamed of moving his family there to help build the Jewish homeland. Amalie and her sisters attended private Hebrew primary and secondary schools to help prepare them for their eventual immigration to Palestine. 1933-39: In September 1939 Stanislav [Stanislawow] was occupied by the Soviet army. Amalie's father lost his job in…
Yiddish folk poet and songwriter Mordecai Gebirtig was born in Krakow, Poland, in 1877. In 1940, he was forced to flee from German-occupied Krakow to nearby Lagiewniki. There, in May 1941, he wrote "My Dream"—in which he dreams of peace and revenge. In March 1942 Gebirtig was forced into the Krakow ghetto, where he was killed in June 1942.
Yiddish folk poet and songwriter Mordecai Gebirtig was born in Krakow, Poland, in 1877. "Moments of Despair" was written in Krakow in September 1940 on the first anniversary of the German invasion of Poland. The lyrics to this piece comment upon a year of persecution and the uncertainty of the future.
This piece was written in Krakow on October 2, 1940. Mordecai Gebirtig wrote this song to raise the spirits of the persecuted Jewish community in Krakow. The poet's reference to "Haman" alludes to the ancient Persian enemy of the Jewish people.
Yiddish folk poet and songwriter Mordecai Gebirtig was born in Krakow, Poland, in 1877. In 1940, he was forced to flee from German-occupied Krakow to nearby Lagiewniki. There, in October 1941, he wrote "Tolling Bells"—in which he envisions the end of persecution and occupation.
View of the entrance to Oskar Schindler's enamel works in Zablocie, a suburb of Krakow. Poland, 1939-1944.
Natan was one of four children born to religious Jewish parents. They lived in an apartment in Cracow's [Krakow] Podgorze district, a predominantly Jewish area on the southern bank of the Vistula River. Natan's father was a shoemaker until 1936, when he became a dealer in billiards equipment. His mother worked as a dressmaker. Natan and his siblings attended Polish public school. 1933-39: When Natan was 13 he built a crystal radio. Late at night, Natan and his father would listen to stations from all over…
Jacob was the eldest of three sons born to religious Jewish parents in the city of Krakow. His father was a flour merchant. The Wassermans spent summer vacations near Proszowice at a farm owned by their grandfather, who also ran a flour mill. 1933-39: In March 1939, at the age of 13, Jacob celebrated his bar-mitzvah. That summer, his family vacationed as usual at his grandfather's farm. They returned to a nightmare. Krakow had been occupied by the Germans on September 6. Jews were not allowed to walk on…
The oldest of eight children, Josel was born in Miechow, a small town in south central Poland. His father was a machinist and locksmith. As a boy, Josel spent long days learning Hebrew in the Jewish school and taking general subjects at the public school. He was 13 years old when he left school to work in his father's shop. 1933-39: Josel met his wife, Esther, through a matchmaker, and they settled in nearby Dzialoszyce, a town with a Jewish community of about 7,000, and a beautiful synagogue that had…
Mordecai Gebirtig, Yiddish folk poet and songwriter, was born in 1877 in Krakow, Poland. Gebirtig was confined in the Krakow ghetto in March 1942. He wrote "Our Springtime" in April 1942. The lyrics describe the bleakness and despair of ghetto life.
A German soldier stands on a toppled Polish monument. Krakow, Poland, 1940. This statue commemorated the Polish victory at Grunwald over the Teutonic knights in 1410. In accordance with the plans of German occupation authorities in Poland, all physical symbols of Polish national culture were to be obliterated to make way for the "Germanization" of the country.
Prisoners receive meager food allocations at the Plaszow camp. Krakow, Poland, 1943 or 1944.
February 1, 1943. On this date, Selek and Eda Kuenstler wrote to Sophia Zendler and begged her to hide their child.
The Płaszów camp was established in 1942 under the authority of the SS and police leaders in Krakow (Cracow). Płaszów was initially a forced-labor camp for Jews, but became a concentration camp in 1944. The largest number of people confined there...
In July 1942, the German health department located in Krakow (Krakau), occupied Poland, issued this identity card to Max Diamant. This view shows the front and back covers of the card. The interior pages identify Diamant as a dental assistant in Przemysl, Poland, and show his signature and photograph mounted under the stamped word "Jew."
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