Krakow Ghetto & Deportation Monument

The memorial to the Jews of the Podgorze Ghetto in Krakow was inaugurated on 8 December 2005.

The winning project by Krakow architects Piotr Lewicki and Kazimierz Latak included 33 steel and cast iron chairs (1.4 m high) in the square and 37 smaller chairs (1.2 m high) standing on the edge of the square and at the tram stops. The theme of empty chairs has also been used at the Oklahoma City Monument at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building blast site to reflect "absence." Near the square stands the Krakow ghetto pharmacy owned by Tadeusz Pankiewicz, a Polish pharmacist who owned the Eagle Pharmacy in Krakow. The German occupation authorities allowed the pharmacy to function, despite ghetto conditions.

Ironically, the Krakow monument intrudes to bus and tram stops and are used by locals awaiting transportation, suggesting that anyone can be a victim. The small building in the square was used by Nazi authorities during the occupation and ghetto period. The inscription on top is 1941-1943, the years of the ghetto. The interior of the building has been reworked artistically to resemble the interior of a deportation train car.



Bus stop that intrudes into monument with an ominous factory appearance, by intent or accident.	Building with 1941-43 on front and interior as a mock-up deportation car.	Sign commemorating Oskart Schindler's "Emalia" Factory in the Krakow Ghetto. The factory has been seized from a Jewish owner, Nathan Wurzel and renamed Deutsche Emaillewaren-Fabrik, or DEF	Entrance to Schindler's factory and site where idea of rescue began, which became "Schindler's List."
Schindler's Emalia factory.	Schindler's Emalia factory.	Schindler's Office.	Last section of Krakow Ghetto wall.
Commemorative plaque on Krakow Ghetto wall.	Commemorative plaque on Krakow Ghetto wall.