Day 5: Visit Jewish New & Old Cemeteries & Remu Synagoge

Although it’s the ‘new’ Jewish cemetery, it was established as early as 1800. 

Though many of the grave markers were destroyed during the Holocaust, some 9000 tombstones are visible.

Many of these have eerie and elaborate carvings.

Since the cemetery was desecrated during and after World War II, not all grave locations may still be valid. There are pieces of matzevahs (headstones) cemented onto the cemetery walls and when the cemetery was "repaired" after the war, the intact stones were placed "randomly" and not placed in their original locations. 

In the years that have since passed, age and weather have taken their toll on some of the stones; other have toppled or have been pushed over.

The New Cemetery is still being used for Jewish burials and it can be visited. 

We tried for the third time and were lucky to find the Remuh Synagoge and new cemetery open.

Dating from 1553, this is Kraków's smallest but most active synagogue, with Shabbat services once again taking place here each Friday following the recent completion of restoration works. 

The synagogue was established by the family of famous 16th century Polish rabbi Moses Isserles - better known as 'the Rema,' based on a Hebrew acronym, and is unique for the proximity of the Old Jewish Cemetery adjacent to it.

 In use until 1800, this holy burial ground fell into utter ruin during Nazi occupation with only a dozen tombstones surviving WWII in their original state; among them was that of Rabbi Moses Isserles, which many interpreted as proof of his miraculous power. 

After the war the cemetery was 'tidied up' with many of the intact tombstones being rearranged in straight rows, and fragments of those which could not be restored used to create a 'wailing wall' along ulica Szeroka. 

Today the cemetery and synagogue - whose modestly decorated interior features a reconstructed bimah and restored ceiling motifs - are an important pilgrimage site for devout Jews from all over the world.

Tourist shops on the  square

Day 4 : Solo visit to Auschwitz & Birkenau

Occupying German forces built the original camp at Auschwitz as a labour camp for Polish political prisoners in 1940. 

It opened in June of that year and was soon expanded so that by 1942 it contained a total of 3 main camps and 36 sub-camps.

Auschwitz III housed slave-labour for the nearby I G Farben plant.

No exact figures are available, but estimates put the total number of people who died at Auschwitz at over 1.25 million*, of whom roughly 1 million were Jewish. About 100,000 inmates survived. Other groups murdered at Auschwitz included Polish political prisoners, Soviet prisoners of war, gypsies, homosexuals, people with disabilities and prisoners of conscience or religious faith.

Birkenau, officially Auschwitz II, was operational by late 1941. 

As the main site of killings, it contains gas chambers and crematoria with a capacity of 2,000 per day. It is believed that total deaths were at a rate of 6,000 per day by 1944.

Birkenau was the largest of the more than 40 camps and sub-camps that made up the Auschwitz complex. During its three years of operation, it had a range of functions. When construction began in October 1941, it was supposed to be a camp for 125 thousand prisoners of war. It opened as a branch of Auschwitz in March 1942, and served at the same time as a center for the extermination of the Jews. In its final phase, from 1944, it also became a place where prisoners were concentrated before being transferred to labor in German industry in the depths of the Third Reich.

The majority—probably about 90%—of the victims of Auschwitz Concentration Camp died in Birkenau. This means approximately a million people. The majority, more than nine out of every ten, were Jews. A large proportion of the more than 70 thousand Poles who died or were killed in the Auschwitz complex perished in Birkenau. So did approximately 20 thousand Gypsies, in addition to Soviet POWs and prisoners of other nationalities. 

The Nazis tried to destroy the camp;

Following the liberation of the camp by Soviet soldiers on 27th January 1945, a total of some 7,000 staff and guards were identified. Only 750 were prosecuted.