On 14th May 1944, the Germans carried out one of their most horrific plan. Lorries which arrived at the Płaszów camp, parked at the Kinderheim (the camp orphanage). While the loudspeakers were blaring a well-known German song for children, ”Mummy, give me a pony” (German: Mamatschi schenke mir Pferdchen), the Germans were forcing the children into the vehicles only to drive away with them. The fate of those children can be easily guessed…. This day is considered most tragic in the history of the Płaszów camp.

Włodzimierz Sztejn (Stein), son of Naum, was born on 11th May1913 in Sławuta.  Sławuta was a city dominated by the Jews who constituted around 65% of all city residents in 1870.  In the interwar period, the city was located on the Soviet Union territory near the Polish border. During WWII, the Germans murdered almost all Jewish residents in Sławuta. One of the few who managed to survive was Włodzimierz Sztejn.On 22nd  June 1941, after the German agression in the Soviet Union, he was captured as the Red Army soldier. In order to hide his Jewish origin, he destroyed his documents but still needed to explain the circumcision.  Off the cuff, he came up with the idea of having Muslim roots. Since that moment he started functioning as…

A group of thugs connected with a Partisian Grouping called ”Błyskawica”, led by Józef Kuraś (alias ”Ogień”), opened fire on Jewish civilians who were trying to cross the border, killing several of them.  This incident took place on 2nd May 1946  near Krościenko. „Brochures distributed by ”Ogień” across the Podahale region always included the same element – comparing the Jewish community to the communist regime”, a brochure issued in 2017 by the Krakow branch of the Institute of National Remembrance notes.  As long as eliminating the Secret Police officers could be explained, the violence directed at regular people who were not linked to any political activities cannot be excused. During the negotiations with the Secret Police in 1946, Kuraś appealed for the expulsion of Jews from Podhale,…

Maria Róża Jakubowicz , daughter of Abraham Pistol, was born on 1st May 1918  in Dobczyce. Maria Róża Jakubowicz was described by Sławomir Pastuszka in Nasza Gmina (Our Community) as the epitome of a Jewish woman who was called ” The Community’s Mother” by the Jews in Krakow.  Her incredible personality contributed to creating a close bond between the Krakow Community members. Jakubowicz’s special character allowed them to feel the atmosphere of a real Jewish home that was lost by the majority of members during holocaust.  Her heroism and bravery during WWII are admirable. After getting to Krakow in June1945,  Maria Jakubowicz got involved in the work for the Regional Jewish Commitee at Długa 38. Her main duties included looking after children, mostly orphans, who survived on…

A building permission for a synagogue was granted to Izak Jakubowicz by the King on 30th April 1638.  Before we proceed to the topic of the synagogue itself, let us get familiar with the Jakubowicz family. Izak, known as Reb Ajzyk reb Jekeles, was their pride and joy. Mojżesz Eberls, the progenitor of the family, the father  of Jakób, known as reb Jekele – Jakóbek Bogaty, was also a community senior and a member of the Codification Comitee (”Rada Siedmiu”) which developed the qahal charter in 1595.  Jekele had two sons: Izak and  Mojżesz. Izak Jakubowicz held the position of a community senior through amost all his life (1608-1647) only to hand the power to his eldest son, Mojżesz, as an elderly man.  Izak was engaged in…

Born on 18th April 1921 in Zabłocie, Renata Zisman, née  Springut, was a pianist and a long-term teacher. Zisman was a graduate of the State College of Music in both Krakow and Wroclaw.  She spent the war in the Krakow getto as well as in the Płaszow, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Ravensbrück and Neustadt-Glewe camps, living to see the liberation in the latter. After the war Zisman worked as both a school principal and a teacher at the Witold Rowicki 1st Degree State College of Music in Żywiec. She was a teacher in the grand piano and conducting class. Next, Renata Zisman took up another teaching job at the Władysław Żeleński Secondary State School of Music in Krakow where she lived to her retirement in 1995. She was awarded Gold…

On 11th April1943 the Transocean Agency informed about ”discovering a mass grave with the remains of 3,000 Polish officers”. It was the first official German announcement regarding the Katyn massacre.  In April 1949 NKVD began mass executions of Polish officers who were captured after 17th September 1939. The lowest estimated number of people executed by the Soviets during the Katyn massacre is around 20,000. The group executed by NKVD  consisted of 500 Jews, soldiers of the pre-war Polish Army including Baruch Steinberg (Chief Rabbi of the Polish Army), Mieczysław Birnbaum (a translator and a publicist), well-known Warsaw doctors: Henryk Brendel (GP and gynaecologist), Bronisław Karbowski (otolaryngologist)  as well as Maksymilian Landau  – a legionnaire, a participant of the Poish-Soviet war, but most importantly, a Polish and German…

A dedication ceremony of the New Jewish Cemetery located at Abrahama 3 Street in Krakow took place on 6th April 1932. The first piece of land dedicated to the cemetery was purchased in 1919, followed by another one in 1923. A decision to build a monumental pre-burial house was made quickly. The person made responsible for it was a Krakow architect, engineer Adolf Siódmak. Moreover, the plan provided for a building dedicated to a Chevra Kadisha funeral society (known as ”Szary Domek”). Due to red tape and financial difficulties, the works strang out until 1932 when the cemetery was opened. From1941 the cemetery at Abrahama 3 was the only burial place for Krakow Jews. During WWII the cemetery was completely ruined, while the pre-burial house was blown up.  Two…