Krakow (Cracow) JEWISH POPULATION OF KRAKOWFounded before the end of the first millennium, the city of Krakow (Cracow), located today in southern Poland, served as the seat of the Piast Dynasty and eventually as the capital of the Polish Kingdom until the early 17th century.
After the third partition of Poland in 1795, Krakow became the seat of Galicia province in the Austrian Empire. In 1918, with the reestablishment of the Polish state, Krakow became and remains one of its most important cities. The first recorded presence of Jews residing in Krakow dates from the early 13th century. 55,515 Krakow residents identified themselves as Jews in the Polish census of 1931; on the eve of the war some 56,000 Jews resided in Krakow, almost one-quarter of a total population of about 250,000. By November 1939, the Jewish population of Krakow had grown to approximately 70,000. Jewish Ghetto of Krakow. German authorities created the Jewish ghetto in Krakow under the Nazi occupation on March 3, 1941 as a compulsory dwelling place for the city's Jews.
On the order of Dr Otto Wachter, the district gubernator, the central part of Podgorze borough was closed off and all its gentile residents expelled to make room for some 17,000 Jews who were allowed to remained in the then capital of a German dependency made of the rump of Poland and called General-Gouvernement. The rest of the 65,000-strong prewar Jewish population of Krakow had been relocated earlier to Poland's lesser cities, towns, and villages. Geography of the Krakow ghetto. The Nazi-conceived Jewish ghetto in Krakow was situated in Podgorze area on the right bank of Wisla river opposite Kazimierz district and its historical Jewish Quarter. 'Schindler's Factory', i.e. The Krakow ghetto consisted of fifteen different streets or parts of them and contained 320 buildings comprising some 3,200 rooms. Auschwitz - A Closer Look at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. What Was Auschwitz?
Built by the Nazis as both a concentration and death camp , Auschwitz was the largest of the Nazi's camps and the most streamlined mass killing center ever created. It was at Auschwitz that 1.1 million people were murdered, mostly Jews. Auschwitz has become a symbol of death, the Holocaust , and the destruction of European Jewry. Dates: May 1940 -- January 27, 1945 Camp Commandants: Rudolf Höss, Arthur Liebehenschel, Richard Baer Auschwitz Established On April 27, 1940, Heinrich Himmler ordered the construction of a new camp near Oswiecim, Poland (about 37 miles or 60 km west of Krakow). Auschwitz I (or "the Main Camp") was the original camp. Auschwitz II (or "Birkenau") was completed in early 1942. Birkenau - Home Page - Museum.