Kraków Ghetto in the context of "Polish Jews"

Kraków, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 (2023), with approximately 8 million additional people living within a 100 km (62 mi) radius. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life. Cited as one of Europe's most beautiful cities, its Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status.

The city began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was a busy trading centre of Central Europe in 985. In 1038, it became the seat of Polish monarchs from the Piast dynasty, and subsequently served as the centre of administration under Jagiellonian kings and of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the late 16th century, when Sigismund III transferred his royal court to Warsaw. With the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918, Kraków reaffirmed its role as the nucleus of a national spirit. After the invasion of Poland, at the start of World War II, the newly defined Distrikt Krakau became the seat of Nazi Germany's General Government. The Jewish population was forced into the Kraków Ghetto, a walled zone from where they were sent to Nazi extermination camps such as the nearby Auschwitz, and Nazi concentration camps like Płaszów. However, the city was spared from destruction. In 1978, Karol Wojtyła, archbishop of Kraków, was elevated to the papacy as Pope John Paul, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.

Kazimierz (Polish pronunciation: [kaˈʑimjɛʂ]; Latin: Casimiria; Yiddish: קוזמיר, romanized: Kuzimyr) is a historical district of Kraków, Poland. From its inception in the 14th century to the early 19th century, Kazimierz was an independent city, a royal city of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom, located south of the Old Town of Kraków, separated from it by a branch of the Vistula river. For many centuries, Kazimierz was a place where ethnic Polish and Jewish cultures coexisted and intermingled. The northeastern part of the district was historically Jewish. In 1941, the Jews of Kraków were forcibly relocated by the German occupying forces into the Kraków Ghetto just across the river in Podgórze, and most did not survive the war. Today, Kazimierz is one of the major tourist attractions of Kraków and an important center of cultural life of the city.

The border between Kazimierz and Kraków was the Old Vistula River, a branch of the Vistula. The riverbed was filled in at the end of the 19th century. and transformed into a green avenue – Józef Dietl Street.

Kraków, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 (2023), with approximately 8 million additional people living within a 100 km (62 mi) radius. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life. Its Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status.

The city began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was a busy trading centre of Central Europe in 985. In 1038, it became the seat of Polish monarchs from the Piast dynasty, and subsequently served as the centre of administration under Jagiellonian kings and of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the late 16th century, when Sigismund III transferred his royal court to Warsaw. With the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918, Kraków reaffirmed its role as the nucleus of a national spirit. After the invasion of Poland, at the start of World War II, the newly defined Distrikt Krakau became the seat of Nazi Germany's General Government. The Jewish population was forced into the Kraków Ghetto, a walled zone from where they were sent to Nazi extermination camps such as the nearby Auschwitz, and Nazi concentration camps like Płaszów. However, the city was spared from destruction. In 1978, Karol Wojtyła, archbishop of Kraków, was elevated to the papacy as Pope John Paul, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.

Płaszów is a suburb of Kraków, Poland, now part of Podgórze district. Formerly a separate village, it became a part of the Greater Kraków in 1911 under the Austrian Partition of Poland as the 21st cadastral district of the city. During World War II, it was the location of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp for Jews deported from the Kraków Ghetto, as well as other prisoners from across occupied Poland.