Krakow - Kazimierz

Kazimierz, the former Jewish district of Krakow, the filming location for Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List”.

Before the Second World War, Krakow was one of the largest Jewish communities in Poland with around 68.000 Jews. The majority of them lived in the Kazimierz district. Today, the Jewish community has around 120 members, most of whom are over 65 years old.Kazimierz was originally an independent city founded in the 14th century by King Kazimierz the Great (1333-1370).
From the very beginning, the city was characterized by two cultures, the Jewish and the Catholic, which is why Kazimierz has both churches and synagogues.

St. Catherine’s Church, built under Casimir the Great in 1363, is one of the most beautiful Gothic churches in the city.
The baroque Pauline Church, built on the site where Archbishop Stanislaus, the patron saint of Poland, died his martyrdom, has a strong national symbolic power.
The High Synagogue in Jozefa Street.
The Remuh Synagogue in Szeroka Street by Rabbi Moses Isserles.
At the end of Szeroka Street stands the Old Synagogue, which was built around 1500 and is the oldest Jewish building in Poland (today the Historical Museum of Krakow Jews).
Isaac Synagogue, baroque synagogue in ul. Izaaka.
The Temple Synagogue, also known as the “progressive synagogue”, was built in 1862 in neo-Romanesque style and is now a concert and event center.

By 1939, a district with its own culture and flair had emerged.
The Jewish community had to leave Kazimierz in 1941 and was relocated to a newly created ghetto in Podgorze. Almost the entire Jewish population was murdered by the National Socialists. After the Second World War, Kazimierz fell into disrepair and was severely neglected during the communist era.
The renaissance of this part of the city began with the success of the Oscar-winning drama “Schindler’s List”, which Steven Spielberg filmed partly in Kazimierz in 1993. However, it should be noted that Kazimierz is not the original location of the historical ghetto. This was the Jewish ghetto of Podgorze.
Since then, not only the old town of Krakow, but also the former Jewish district has been a destination for many tourists, and Steven Spielberg, who filmed “Schindler’s List” in Krakow, brought Kazimierz a boom in visitors.
Spielberg himself founded the Shoah Foundation as a result of his experiences in Krakow in order to document interviews with Holocaust survivors for future generations.

If Spielberg had to look for locations for his film “Schindler’s List” in Kazimierz today, he would have problems finding suitable locations. The black and white atmosphere of the 90s has given way to a trendy district with pubs, discos, students and artists.

Inner courtyard between Jozefa and Rabina Meiselsa Streets, where the deportation from the ghetto was filmed in “Schindler’s List”.

The Ariel restaurant, where Spielberg filmed a scene for the movie “Schindler’s List”.

Klezmer Hois, where you can enjoy traditional Jewish dishes accompanied by lively klezmer music, to which Roman Polanski and Steven Spielberg have already listened.

Former prayer house “Kowea Itim I`Tora” at 42 Jozefa Street.

Wailing wall in the cemetery at the Remuh synagogue.

Entrance to the “High Synagogue” at Jozefa-Straße 38.

Jewish cemetery dating from 1551, one of the oldest in Europe.

Szeroka Street (Broad Street), basically an elongated market square with the so-called Old Synagogue and Remuh Synagogue and the associated Old Cemetery.

The Jewish Festival in Kazimierz is the largest festival of its kind in Poland.

Kazimierz - the Jewish quarter of Krakow