Kraków Ghetto
(Map of the Holocaust in Poland including death camps marked
with skulls, and Nazi-era Ghettos marked with red-gold stars. Red dot shows the
location of Kraków Ghetto in the interwar period)
The Kraków Ghetto was one of five major metropolitan Nazi
ghettos created by Germany in the new General Government territory during the
German occupation of Poland in World War II. It was established for the purpose
of exploitation, terror, and persecution of local Polish Jews. The ghetto was
later used as a staging area for separating the "able workers" from
those to be deported to extermination camps in Operation Reinhard. The ghetto
was liquidated between June 1942 and March 1943, with most of its inhabitants
deported to the Belzec extermination camp as well as to Płaszów slave-labor
camp, and Auschwitz concentration camp, 60 kilometres (37 mi) rail distance.
Background
(Jews forced to shovel snow from the street)
Before the German-Soviet invasion of 1939, Kraków was an
influential centre for the 60,000–80,000 Polish Jews who had lived there since
the 13th century. Persecution of the Jewish population of Kraków began
immediately after the German troops entered the city on 6 September 1939 in the
course of the German aggression against Poland. Jews were ordered to report for
forced labour beginning in September 1939. In November, all Jews twelve years
or older were required to wear identifying armbands. Throughout Kraków,
synagogues were closed and all their relics and valuables confiscated by the
Nazi authorities.
Kraków was made the capital of the General Government (the
part of occupied Poland not directly incorporated into Germany), and by May
1940 the German occupation authority headed by the Governor-General Hans Frank
announced that Kraków should become the “racially cleanest" city in the
General Government. Massive deportations of Jews from the city ensued. Of the
more than 68,000 Jews in Kraków at the time of the German invasion, only 15,000
workers and their families were permitted to remain. All other Jews were
ordered out of the city, to be resettled into surrounding rural areas of the
General Government.
Formation of the Kraków Ghetto
(Construction of the ghetto walls, May 1941)
In April 1940, Hans Frank proposed the removal of 50,000 Jews
from the city of Kraków. Frank's reason for removing Jews from the Jewish
quarter was that the area "...will be cleansed and it will be possible to
establish pure German neighborhoods..." within Kraków. From May 1940 to 15
August 1940, a voluntary expulsion program was enacted. Jews that chose to leave Kraków were allowed
to take all of their belongings and relocate throughout the General-Government
(Generalgouvernement). By 15 August
1940, 23,000 Jews had left Kraków. After this date, mandatory expulsions were
enforced. On 25 November 1940, the Order for the Deportation of Jews from the
Municipal District of Kraków was announced. This order declared that no more
Jews were allowed into the city of Kraków, Jews residing in Kraków required a
special permit, and locations outside of Kraków that Jews were forced to move
to were chosen by authorities. Jews forced to leave were also only allowed to
bring along 25 kg (62½ lbs.) of their belongings when they left. By 4 December
1940, 43,000 Jews were removed from Kraków, both voluntarily and involuntarily.
Jews that were still residing in Kraków at this time were deemed
"...economically useful..." and they had to obtain a residence permit
that "...had to be renewed each month."
The following year, on 3 March 1941, the establishment of the
Kraków Ghetto was ordered by Otto Wächter. The ghetto was to be set up in the
Podgórze District of Kraków. Podgórze was chosen as the site of the ghetto
instead of the traditional Jewish quarter, Kazimierz, because Hans Frank
believed Kazimierz was more significant to the history of Kraków. Podgórze was
a suburb of Kraków at the time. Wächter
claimed that formation of the ghetto was necessary for public health and order.
The Kraków ghetto was officially established on 20 March 1941. When relocating
to the ghetto, Jews were only allowed to bring 25 kg of their belongings. The
rest of their possessions were taken by the German Trust Office
(Treuhandstelle). Some Jews were resettled to the nearby ghetto of Brzesko. All
non-Jewish residents of the area were required to relocate in other districts
by 20 March 1941.
The ghetto was guarded by the German police (Schutzpolizei),
the Polish police (Blue Police), and the Jewish police (Jüdischer
Ordnungsdienst – OD), but the only police force inside the ghetto was the
Jewish police. With the formation of the ghetto, the OD had an office
established at Józefińska Street 37 in Podgórze. In April 1941, the ghetto was
enclosed by a wall made of barbed wire and stone; the stones used were designed
to look like tombstones, but also included "...Jewish monuments and
tombstones from the cemetery." The ghetto wall was constructed using
Jewish forced labor. The ghetto was accessible by three entrances: one near the
Podgórze Market, Limanowskiego Street, and the Plac Zgody. The Kraków Ghetto
was a closed ghetto meaning that it was physically closed off from the
surrounding area and access was restricted. Within other German-occupied areas,
open ghettos and destruction ghettos existed. Movement in and out of the ghetto
was restricted and Jews working outside of the ghetto had to have the proper
documentation. Jews had to "...obtain the appropriate stamps for the
Kennkarten [identification cards]..." from the Labor Office (Arbeitsamt).
(The entrance to the ghetto, taken around 1941)
The ghetto was populated by approximately 16,000 Jews when it
was first formed. Before the ghetto was cordoned off, it was home to around
3,500 residents. The ghetto consisted of 320 buildings. To accommodate the
density, apartments within the ghetto were divided on a 2m² per person basis or
by a standard of three people to one window. The Jewish Council (Judenrat) was
responsible for determining the new housing assignments. Within the Kraków
ghetto, Yiddish was the official language, not Polish. On 1 December 1939, an order was announced
mandating that all Jews within the General Government wear an armband
identifying them as Jewish. The white
armbands with the blue Star of David were still required once Jews were moved
into the ghetto.
On 15 October 1941, the Third Decree of the General
Governor's was enacted. This decree stated that Jews found outside
"...their designated residential area will be punished with death." The
punishment also applied to anyone found aiding Jews. The decree applied to all residents within the
General Government.
On 28 November 1941, the area that encompassed the ghetto was
reduced. The population of the Kraków Ghetto increased because Nazis required
the Jewish residents of 29 nearby villages to move to the ghetto. The size of
the ghetto was reduced again in June 1942. The reductions in the size of the
ghetto were associated with the deportation of Jews, including deportations to
the Bełżec extermination camp. When
apartments that were no longer included in the ghetto were vacated, possessions
were stolen and the units were reassigned. The Municipal Housing Office was
responsible for these apartments.
In December 1942. the Kraków ghetto was divided into two
parts: Ghetto "A" and Ghetto "B." Ghetto "A" was
intended for people that were working and Ghetto "B" was for everyone
else. This division was planned with future liquidations of the ghetto in mind.
Ghetto history
(A navy blue policeman controls documents in the ghetto, 1941)
The Kraków Ghetto was formally established on 3 March 1941 in
the Podgórze district and not, as often believed, in the historic Jewish
district of Kazimierz. Displaced Polish families from Podgórze took up
residences in the former Jewish dwellings outside the newly established ghetto.
Meanwhile, 15,000 Jews were crammed into an area previously inhabited by 3,000
people who used to live in a district consisting of 30 streets, 320 residential
buildings, and 3,167 rooms. As a result, one apartment was allocated to every
four Jewish families, and many less fortunate lived on the street.
The ghetto was surrounded by the newly built walls that kept
it separated from the rest of the city. In a grim foreshadowing of the near
future, these walls contained brick panels in the shape of tombstones. All
windows and doors that opened onto the "Aryan" side were ordered to
be bricked up. Only four guarded entrances allowed traffic to pass in or out.
Small sections of the wall still remain today, one part is fitted with a
memorial plaque, which reads "Here they lived, suffered and perished at
the hands of Hitler's executioners. From here they began their final journey to
the death camps."
Young people of the Akiva youth movement, who had undertaken
the publication of an underground newsletter, HeHaluc HaLohem ("The
Fighting Pioneer"), joined forces with other Zionists to form a local
branch of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ŻOB, Polish: Żydowska Organizacja
Bojowa), and organize resistance in the ghetto, supported by the Polish
underground Armia Krajowa. The group carried out a variety of resistance
activities including the bombing of the Cyganeria cafe – a gathering place of
Nazi officers. Unlike in Warsaw, their efforts did not lead to a general
uprising before the ghetto was liquidated.
From 30 May 1942 onward, the Nazis began systematic
deportations from the Ghetto to surrounding concentration camps. Thousands of
Jews were transported in the succeeding months as part of the Aktion Krakau
headed by SS-Oberführer Julian Scherner. Jews were assembled on Zgody Square
first and then escorted to the railway station in Prokocim. The first transport
consisted of 7,000 people, the second, of additional 4,000 Jews deported to
Bełżec death camp on 5 June 1942. On 13–14 March 1943, the final 'liquidation'
of the ghetto was carried out under the command of SS-Untersturmführer Amon
Göth. Two thousand Jews deemed able to work were transported to the Płaszów
labor camp. Those deemed unfit for work – some 2,000 Jews – were killed in the
streets of the ghetto on those days with the use of "Trawniki men"
police auxiliaries. The remaining 3,000 were sent to Auschwitz.
Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Kraków Ghetto A 24-person Jewish board was formed in the city of Kraków and later in the Krakow Ghetto, when the ghetto was formed on March 3, 1941. This Jewish Council was in charge of the inhabitants of the ghetto but received many orders from local Nazi officials, even though it retained some degree of autonomy. Some of its functions included overseeing labor and welfare, conducting a census and taxing the population.
Cultural life
(Plan of the Krakow Ghetto (exhibit at the Historical Museum
of the City of Krakow))
Cultural life in the Kraków Ghetto was bleak and dangerous
for the Jewish population. Each day dragged on, consistently becoming harder
and harder to tolerate and survive. There was not much for the Jews to live
for. The mood was somber, spirits were low, and the majority of the ghetto's
inhabitants remained hopeless.
Jews in the Kraków ghetto were required to wear a Star of
David on their arm, identifying them as being Jewish, which led to the revoking
of most rights. A curfew was implemented that stripped Jews of many
opportunities to participate in the cultural life. As time went on, Jews needed
to obtain permits in order to enter and exit the ghetto, robbing them of any
freedom they felt they had left at this point. Even though the Jews were unable
to participate in certain areas of cultural life in the Kraków ghetto, “various
cultural and religious activities continued within the ghetto." Although
the practice of religion was banned, that did not stop those in the Kraków
ghetto from praying and staying true to Judaism. At least three synagogues or
other religious facilities were still in use that served as a place for the
Jews to go to and pray. There was also a café where artists played live music
within the ghetto, which proved to be instrumental in keeping Jews' spirits up.
Finally, there was a ghetto pharmacy, which was a place where people could go
to discuss problems, read underground and official newspapers and learn the
realities of what was happening and what atrocities they were living through.
Numerous songs were created by those living the ghetto, serving three major purposes:
“documentation of ghetto life, a diversion from reality, and the upholding of
tradition.” These songs portrayed their immense suffering coupled with their
dedication and determination to survive. Some of the most popular lyrics are
“Me hot zey in dr’erd, me vet zey iberlebn, me vet noch derlebn” (“To hell with
them, we will survive them, we will yet survive”), conveying and sharing the
feelings of the Jewish people through music. Laughter, which was a rarity in
the Kraków ghetto, was another way numerous victims attempted to cope with
their strong hatred for the enemy. Sometimes prisoners performed ghetto songs,
while other times small groups performed them with various instruments.
Street songs are a sub-genre of ghetto music with four
dominant themes: hunger, corrupt administration, hope for freedom and a call
for revolt. Music has always been a
traditional and important aspect of both Jewish holidays and Jewish home life
more generally. The prisoners in the Kraków Ghetto did their best to keep this
tradition alive, especially during Passover and Yom Kippur. Although music
brought some comfort to many, suicide rates were significantly higher among the
musicians than other camp workers. Many of the musicians were forced to watch
the murder of their families and friends due to the Nazi's insistence that the
prisoner-musicians play music while the other prisoners were marched to the gas
chambers.
Aleksander Kulisiewicz was an aspiring musician who did his
best to “collect, compose, and perform songs” while living in the ghetto even
though it was illegal to do so. Inmates in the Kraków ghetto worked 12-hour
days that left them more exhausted than imaginable. In order to pass the time, songs were sung
throughout the work day. Mordechai Gebirtig, who is “known for his beautiful
and prescient songs and poems” in Yiddish emerged from the Kraków ghetto. His
song “Our Town Is Burning” which was written in 1938 became “one of the most
popular songs in the ghettos and concentration camps." Unfortunately,
Gebirtig was shot and killed in the Kraków ghetto. Another individual who was
in the Kraków ghetto was Roman Polanski, who became a famous film director upon
his survival of the Holocaust. Polanski
eventually directed a film that told the story of the musician Władysław
Szpilman who survived the Holocaust. In order to pass time while trapped in
these horrendous conditions, a lot of Jewish children in the Kraków ghetto
played the violin and any other instruments they had access to. Music proved to
be an instrumental aspect of cultural life in the Kraków ghetto that aided in
keeping the spirits of Jews up as much as possible during such low and awful
times.
Resistance
Organized resistance The Kraków Jewish underground resistance existed from 1942 to late 1943, and stemmed from youth groups such as Akiva. The two groups that formed were Iskra and Hahalutz Halochem, or the Fighting Organization of the Jewish youth. Despite ultimately focusing on more classical armed resistance actions, they originally focused on providing support for education and welfare organizations within the ghetto. Eventually establishing a magazine, the groups initially focused on working with the Polish Underground and the Communist Partia Robotnicza (PPR). They ultimately planned for action against the Nazis. The Resistance conducted demonstrations against several Nazi-frequented institutions, including café Cyganeria, café Esplanada, and a theater. Additionally, the Polish Underground group also aided the Jews with a program called Żegota.
Initially, rather than aligning with either communist or
Zionist groups, the Iskra Resistance group aimed solely at combating and
destroying the Nazis. From the outset, Iskra's inaugural members were Heszek
Bauminger, Shlomo Sh., and eventually Gola Mire. Heszek Bauminger fought for
the Polish army at the beginning of the war, and despite participating in the
Social Zionist Hashomer Hatzair group, he moved his allegiances to communism.
Gola Mire – another Hatzair former member – became involved in the Polish
Communist Party. Accordingly, Iskra worked in conjunction with the communist
Polish Workers' Party division – Gwardia Ludowa – in an armed initiative. Specifically,
German armed forces were the target of Iskra. Further, Resistance in the Kraków
ghetto decided to attack the “Aryan” portion of the city rather than fight a
futile war from within. To strengthen itself, Iskra merged with Hahalutz
Halochem – thus mixing communist leanings with a Zionist group and subsequently forming the Jewish fighting
Organization (Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa; ZOB) Despite the similarity in name this ZOB was
independent from the ZOB involved in Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Historians will argue that the youth movements involved had
significant, but realistic aims. It is suggested that Nazi intentions were
evident to the youth and they consequently decided to fight the Nazis vision,
even though they knew success would be limited. Significantly, composed of
members of the Akiva Zionist youth movement, Hahalutz Halochem worked with
Iskra along with communist to stage the Cyganeria bombing. Aligning with
Hahalutz Halochem motivated Akiva to transition to armed resistance. Furthermore,
the underground movements published a paper called “Hechalutz Halochem” which
was edited by Simon Dranger. This paper served to combat the German work of
“Zydowska Gazeta”; this was an underground work which attempted to conceal the
Nazis' genocidal aims and thus stem any opposition
Cyganeria Bombing The Cyganeria Bombing is one of the more discussed attacks conducted by the Kraków Resistance movements. It was one of a series of attacks in a retaliatory response to the implementation of mass deportations. Prior to Cyganeria, attacks occurred at the Optima factory and the Cosmo Club – the Cosmo Club attack killed several Nazi elites. Furthermore, three attacks were planned for Dec. 24, 1942: Cyganeria Café, Esplanada Café, Sztuka theater, and an officers’ club. Ultimately, the Hahalutz Halochem and Iskra resistance groups bombed Cyganeria on December 22 and killed from 7 to 70 Germans and injured many others. The attack at the theater was relatively unsuccessful due to poor planning and a refusal to harm innocent Poles in attendance; however, Esplanada Café and the Officers’ club attacks were successful.
The relative success of the Resistance groups was hindered by
Julek Appel and Natek Waisman who betrayed the resistance. Hahalutz Halochem
was quickly subdued by the Nazis – due to Appel and Waisman – but better
security habits protected Iskra for a limited time. Additionally, two key resistance members –
Adolf Liebeskind and Tennenbaum – died in the attack. Finally, following the
Cyganeria Café attack, weapons, various currencies, and enemy uniforms were
found by the Gestapo. The gestapo sent a message to Nazi elites via
SS-Obergruppenfüher Wolff and Reichsfüher Himmler. Lucien Steinberg, the author
of Jews Against Hitler, argues that this communicates the attack's significance
to Hitler. Publicly the identity of the attacks perpetrators were not revealed
and it was rumored to be the Polish Underground or the Soviets. Regarding the
Jews who carried out the attack, they were disguised as Poles. This reflected a
concern, within Hahalutz Halochem, of Nazi retaliation against the ghetto if
the Jews were implicated.
Religious resistance Additionally, Jews in the Kraków Ghetto participated in a form of religious resistance by continuing to practice Judaism in secret. This succeeded through the safeguard of the Jewish police.
Rescue and outside aid
The Righteous Gentiles
(Tadeusz Pankiewicz at the back of his pharmacy "Under
the Eagle" around 1941.)
The only pharmacy enclosed within the Kraków Ghetto boundary
belonged to the Polish Roman Catholic pharmacist Tadeusz Pankiewicz, permitted
by the German authorities to operate his "Under the Eagle Pharmacy"
there upon his request. The scarce medications and tranquillizers supplied to
the ghetto's residents often free of charge – apart from health-care
considerations – contributed to their survival. Pankiewicz passed around hair
dyes to Jews compelled to cross the ghetto walls illegally. In recognition of
his heroic deeds in helping countless Jews in the ghetto during the Holocaust,
he was bestowed the title of the Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem on
February 10, 1983. Pankiewicz is the author of a book describing, among other
events, the ghetto liquidation.
The list of several dozen Polish Righteous from Kraków, includes
Maria and Bronisław Florek who lived at Czyżówka Street and saved Goldberger
and Nichtberger families. Notably, Maria Florek smuggled forged identity papers
procured at the Emalia Factory of Oskar Schindler (without his awareness), for
the Jews hiding on the 'Aryan side' of Kraków. Władysław Budyński, who provided
help without remuneration even to complete strangers, ended up marrying a
Jewish girl, Chana Landau in 1943, but they were caught by Gestapo in 1944 and
deported to different concentration camps. Both survived, reunited in Kraków,
and in 1969 emigrated to Sweden. Polish gynaecologist Dr Helena Szlapak turned
her home at Garbarska Street into a safe house for trafficked Jews and
distribution of falsified documents as well as secret messages and storage of
photographs from Auschwitz. She collaborated with Żegota, attended to sick Jews
in hiding and placed them in hospitals under false identities.
Żegota
(Bundles abandoned by Jewish deportees from the Kraków
Ghetto, March 1943)
Żegota also had prominence in Kraków. The goal of Żegota was
to aid the Jews on a day-to-day basis – rather than aiming for an overall
solution. Zegota provided opportunity with false documents, doctors for
healthcare, money, and several other pivotal resources and aid for the Jews.In
Zegota, historians assert that Polish – Jewish relations were strong before the
war, and Żegota became involved to strengthen the organically arising aid.
Moreover, led by Stanislaw Dobrowolski, food, medicine, funds, and means for
escape were provided. Several Żegota members – Jozefa Rysinska, Mieczyslaw Kurz,
Tadeusz Bilewicz, Zygmunt Kuzma, and Ada Prochnicka – facilitated transport of
supplies and overall aid in the camps.
Notable people
(Remains of the wall around the Krakow ghetto (with memorial
plaque) in the Podgorze district, October 2010)
Movie director Roman Polanski, a survivor of the ghetto, in
his 1984 memoir Roman evoked his childhood experiences there before the mass
deportations of Operation Reinhard in Kraków. "My own feeling – Polański
wrote – was that if only one could explain to them that we had done nothing
wrong, the Germans would realize that it all was a gigantic
misunderstanding." Many years later, Roma Ligocka, Polish artist and
author, and a first cousin to Roman Polański who, as a small girl, was rescued
and survived the ghetto, wrote a novel based on her experiences, The Girl in
the Red Coat: A Memoir. She is
mistakenly thought to be portrayed in the film Schindler's List. The scene,
however, was constructed on the memories of Zelig Burkhut, survivor of Plaszow
(and other work camps). When being interviewed by Spielberg before the making
for the film, Burkhut told of a young girl wearing a pink coat, no older than
four, who was shot by a Nazi officer right before his eyes. Oskar Schindler was
portrayed in the Thomas Keneally novel Schindler's Ark (the basis for Steven
Spielberg's film Schindler's List). In an especially dramatic event, 300 of
Schindler's workers were deported to the Auschwitz death camp despite his
efforts, and he personally intervened to return them to him.
(Mordechai Gebirtig)
Other notable people include Mordechai Gebirtig, who was one
of the most influential and popular writers of Yiddish songs and poems. He was
shot there in 1942. Miriam Akavia, an Israeli writer, survived the Kraków
ghetto and concentration camps. Renowned dermatologist and co-discoverer of
Reyes Syndrome, Dr Jim Jacob Baral was also a Kraków Ghetto survivor; his
mother pushed him and his brother Martin under the barbed wire to hide at the
home of a Polish rescuer who took them to Bochnia where their mother and sister
joined them later. Bernard Offen, born
in 1929 in Kraków survived the ghetto and several Nazi concentration camps.
Zuzanna Ginczanka and her husband left the Lvov ghetto for
the Kraków ghetto in September 1942. She was arrested and shot in a prison in
January 1945.
In 1940 Edward Mosberg, at the time 14 years old, and his
immediate family, grandparents, cousins, and aunt were moved into one small
apartment in the Kraków Ghetto. In 1942, his grandmother, aunts, and cousins
were deported from it to Belzec concentration camp in German-occupied Poland.
In 1943, the Kraków Ghetto was liquidated, and the remaining Mosberg family was
moved to the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp in Płaszów just south of Kraków,
a Nazi concentration camp operated by the SS, which had been constructed on the
grounds of two former Jewish cemeteries.
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