Poland - Eastern Europe - page 431

There's no prescribed plan for visiting the former Jewish quarter. The natural point
of departure is the central Plac Nowy, once the quarter's main market and now given
over to a depressing combination of fruit and flea market (no doubt with real fleas).
The tourist information center maintains an office at Józefa 7 ( & 012/422-04-71;
Mon-Fri 10am-4pm), and can provide maps and information. Look too for sign-
posted routes marked “Trasa zabytków 9 ydowskych,” which includes all of the
major sites. Visit the synagogues individually; each costs about 7 z l ($2.30/£1.20) to
enter. Don't expect gorgeous interiors; it's fortunate enough that these buildings are
still standing.
After you've toured the major sites, don't overlook the Galicia Jewish Museum on
Dajwór street, just beyond the main ghetto area. Check out too the New Cemetery
(Nowy Cmentarz) at the far end of Miodowa street, walking below a railroad under-
pass. This became the main Jewish cemetery in the 19th century, and the thousands
of headstones are silent testimony to the former size of this community.
Galicia Jewish Museum This often-overlooked museum, in a far corner of
Kazimierz, is almost a must-see. The main exhibition features contemporary and often
very beautiful photographs of important Jewish sites throughout southern Poland
with an explanation of what happened there. The effect works beautifully. So much of
the experience of visiting Poland is running across sites very much like these pictures
and trying to piece together the history behind it. The lesson here is that nearly every
place has a tragic story.
Dajwór 18. & 012/421-68-42. Daily 10am-4:30pm.
Isaak Synagogue This is widely considered the most beautiful synagogue
in Kazimierz, dating from 1664. It was badly damaged during the Nazi occupation
and has only been partially restored. The rooms hold moving photographs of former
Kazimierz residents and their families, but the highlights are several older documen-
tary films on Kazimierz that run continuously during the day. One film is French
from the late 1930s, narrated in German, on health conditions in the ghetto; another
is a U.S. film from earlier in the decade about Jewish life here. The most haunting of
all are the silent newsreels filmed by the Germans themselves of the clearing of the
Jewish quarter in 1941.
Kupa 16. & 012/430-55-77. Sun-Fri 9am-7pm.
Old Synagogue Home to an educational set of exhibitions of Jewish life in
Poland. Dating from the early 16th century, this is the oldest surviving example of
Jewish architecture in the country.
Szeroka 24. & 012/422-09-62. Tues-Sun 9am-5pm; Mon 10am-2pm.
Remuh Synagogue and Cemetery This is still in active use as a synagogue.
You can walk through cemetery, which was used until the start of the 19th century,
when the New Cemetery was opened.
Szeroka 40. & 012/422-12-74. Sun-Fri 10am-4pm.
Temple Synagogue The relative grandeur of this synagogue best captures the
wealth of Jewish life here before the war.
Miodowa 24. & 012/423-20-97. Sun-Fri 10am-6pm.