Rabbi Moses Isserles (commonly known as Rema) was appointed the Chief Rabbi of Jewish Communities in the Krakow region by King Sigismund I the Old on 28th October 1547. “Since Moses Isserles had already been a well-known person and did not need any government support, the royal decree was more of a formality than anything else. His world-renowned academy was packed with young men coming from Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany who were all eager for knowledge.” Moses Isserles,  commonly known  as Rabbi Rema  – which was the Hebrew acronym for Rabbi Moses Isserles, was the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Religious Community in Krakow and a founder of a Krakow yeshiva, who lived between 1520-1572. Isserles was the greatest Jewish scholar in Poland. He was…

Between 27th-29th October 1942, Krakow witnessed a horrific displacement from the ghetto. The barbaric operation was carried out by the German occupation authorities in Krakow. It all started late evening on 27th October, when the ghetto was cordoned off by the Sonderdienst and police officers. On a sunny Monday, 28th October, the Germans began the selection process of the Judenrat workers, followed by the selection of the remaining ghetto residents. All Jews living in the ghetto were made to leave their flats under the warning of death. Then, they were ordered to line up along Józefińska street, in the vicinity of the Judenratu  HQ, where a random selection took place. Most people were directed to Plac Zgody where German armed divisions were already waiting. That day, the…

Born on 24th October 1912 in Janów Lubelski, Chaim Hirszman was one of two confirmed survivors who escaped the Bełżec camp (the other survivor was Rudolf  Reder). He had worked as a mechanic before WWII broke out. In September 1942, Hirszman, his wife and their child were deported to Bełżec. Sadly, his relatives were murdered upon the arrival at the camp. Chaim Hirszman however, was chosen to work with the camp disassembly team. In June 1943, he managed to escape from the transportation to the Sobibor camp. Soon afterwards, Hirszman reached his homeland and joined the People’s Army. After the liberation, he joined Civic Militia and the Security Office, until he handed in a notice in 1946. It is likely that Hirszman wanted to go to Argentina,…

Born into a trading family on 21st October 1903 in Warsaw, Marek Wjasblum was a historian and a researcher of Polish reformation and Renaissance.  A 1926 Jagiellonian University graduate at the Faculty of History. After obtaining his PhD title in 1928, Wjasblum moved back to Warsaw where he lived with everyday struggles, saying ”I have always been a Jew for the Poles and a Pole for the Jews”. He was never a member of the Jewish Religious Community and his left-wing ideas made it impossible for him to hold a position at any Polish university.  When WWII broke out, Marek Wjasblum lived in a territory seized by the Red Army. His family was murdered as a result of being in the German zone. Wanted by NKVD, Wjasblum,…