Krakow

On Tuesday, March 30, we visited the amazing city of Krakow. While in Krakow, we were able to explore the culture and the wide variety of synagogues built throughout the city. We started the day by seeing graffiti art made by a group called The Broken Finger. The City of Krakow specifically asked this group to make a graffiti memorial of a man named Moshe Lilian who was a Modern Artist. This shows the progressiveness of the City because they paid graffiti artist to construct a memorial which a normal city might not want to do.

When the Jewish community of Krakow was thriving, different people had different jobs. One job a person might get is the knocker. It is this person’s duty to go to houses on mornings of Shabbat and wake them up by knocking on the door. During times of trouble or morning, the knocker would only knock 2 times instead of 3. Also, in the community, there was a job called the Shamash. During this era, there were no street lights or any way to light the roads once night fell. The Shamash during Havdalah would light candles for people in order for them to see where they are going and to help them travel safely. He/She would also help to take care of the synagogue.

Although we visited many synagogues, there was one that really stood out to me. I loved the idea of the synagogue called Kupa. The Kupa’s purpose is a synagogue for those who don’t have a synagogue of their own. This synagogue was built as a donation and is still a beautiful synagogue. On the ceiling, paintings depicting a modern Svat Zion. This shows even during the time this temple was built, people were still encouraging Jews to make Aliyah to Israel. Also, on the ceiling were the words to the prayer Hallelujah and a few prayers were painted on the walls so the congregation could follow along without needing a prayer book. After the holocaust, the Kupa was converted into a matzah factory. Even after the darkest point in our Jewish history, the Kupa was keeping with Jewish culture by producing matzah, a requirement for Passover.

After we visited the different temples, we visited a local JCC and talked with the director. The main goal of this JCC is to try and bring back Jewish life into Poland. Although there are few Jews currently living in Krakow, the JCC is seeming to spread Judaism. There a lot of Jews who are Jewish, but were brought up as catholic or Christian because Krakow used to be a negative place for Jews to live in. However, currently, Krakow is a very pro-Jewish environment. The director believes Judaism can flourish once again in Krakow thanks to the help of the Jews in Krakow and the non-Jews as well. Although at one point in history “Jewishness” was heavily looked down upon, the non-Jews of Krakow are also helping to try and restore Jewish culture.

On March 3, 1941 when the Krakow ghetto was established, 20,000 Jews were moved into a space meant for 3,000. Unlike the Warsaw ghetto, the Krakow ghetto’s walls were constructed of concrete and the whole ghetto was surrounded by Nazis at all times. This means it was almost impossible for Jews to smuggle in food or weapons which made living even harder for the Jews. When the ghetto was liquidated, most of the jews went to camps such as Auschwitz, Dachau, and Belzec. 

This is the ceiling of the Kupa. On the ceiling is pictures of Svat Zion and inscribed are the words of hallelujah

We took a class photo in the Temple which is the more modern of the synagogues we visited.

This is the last remainder of the Krakow Ghetto wall. It is made of concrete so escape would be harder. Also, the wall is shaped like a gravestone to instill the fear of death on the inhabitants of the ghetto.

Visiting the city of Krakow and the different synagogues was a really cool and unique experience. Which synagogue did you like the most and which synagogue did you not identify with and why.