Touring the Jewish Quarter with Gosia

Today it rained,really rained so I had to buy an umbrella as we planned to join the free walking tour of the Jewish district.It was also cold when we started out in the morning so on went the jerseys for a change.
We started our morning with a church service at St Mary's Catholic church which is the parish church in the main square and a working church.It was packed for morning mass.The interior is spectacular,very ornate as befits a prosperous town.It has a beautiful altar and the decorative features are in gold leaf,the ceiling is starry and the vestments etc are all of great quality.The music was wonderful and we sat and enjoyed the choir music.

Our next stop was the Free Walking tour stop where we met our guide Gosia,a very passionate local who is studying Jewish history at University.She was great value and undertook the tour in a positive mood despite the rain pelting down.Fortunately it eased off later in the tour and by the end of the walk the sun was shining.
We started in the main square because that was where the history of the Jews in Krakow began.They were early settlers but accused by the local Poles of burning down their church.The King was asked to intervene so he banished the Jews to the town of Kazimierz outside the city  walls but allowed them to continue trading in the city.

We saw the remnants of Jewish life here in Krakow because once a thriving community of sixty five thousand they now number about ten percent of that total and only one hundred and forty Orthodox Jews remain.That is official figures but for several reasons there are more than that.Some  Poles are just discovering their Jewish heritage on the death of grandparents who had kept their identity secret all these years so they could stay in Poland.
We walked to the suburb of Kazimierz to see the Orthodox Church Synagogue and the associated religious prayer houses and places of learning.Men and women did not sit in the same part of the church in case of distrations.A service was just finishing and the men leaving the service were wearing traditional orthodox gowns and looked suitably distinguished at tourists taking photos etc.

We saw market places and the ghetto area filmed making Shindlers List. It has now become a trendy bohemian centre of artists and musicians,a favourite hang out of our guide for her social life.

The making of this movie has transformed this area as prior to the film it was seedy and run down as the original Jewish community had been moved by the communist to another area  Podgorze, which was further away and became  known as the Ghetto. From there they were taken for execution to a gas chamber outside of the city.No one came back from this camp,only four escaped and they jumped from the train so there are no stories from survivors of this camp.

We walked to the ghetto memorial where bronze chairs stand to commo rate the loss of personal things.The artists who won the competition to design an installation suitable for remembering the Jews of Krakow chose the chair as a symbol because they represent known things,comfort,permanence but also the chairs face different directions.Some of the chairs sit on the edge and symbolize the onlookers,some face the direction they might leave in - this depended on your health and status but there was little escape possible for the majority. They were hunted down and slaughter by the Germans.
I found this place very moving.
From here we walked to Shindlers Factory where he sheltered many Jews and controversially has been honored by the Jewish Council for his actions.Some say he did it for other reasons,namely to ,se money but he did enable many to escape extermination and give those families hope and a future.I may go back to see through the museum later but another two hours of history making was a bit much for my brain so we took a break and went on a cultural binge.
Nearby was the museum of Modern Contemporary Art which offered toilets a good coffee both of which were needed.
We gained free entry to the museum because we were over seventy!!!Anyway a  fascinating exhibition unfolded in this modern building,newly opened and very light and airy galleries.It was a Gender in Art Exhibition  with artists from international collections.Quite avante garde , controversial and thought provoking images of how gender is represented through various forms of media and the messages that gives viewers.
Well worth visiting.
We went to see the main art gallery in the Cloth Hall too which had more traditional art works displayed in conventional styles but interesting to see how there major artists were influenced by styles such as impressionism and post modernism etc.The Girl in the Ermine by Van Dyke was not there as we had been led to expect which was disappointing but we were so tired and hungry it was home for us.zthe rain was starting again so back to the hotel for a rest about 4.30pm.
A big day out....