Galicia Jewish Museum

The Galicia Jewish Museum is housed at Dajwór 18 in Kraków's Kazimierz, in the restored building of a former Jewish furniture factory. The institution was founded by the British photographer Chris Schwarz and officially opened on 27 June 2004. The museum covers about 920 m² and from the start has been based on photography rather than on a collection of historic objects.

How the museum came about

The museum grew out of a photographic project that its founder carried out after the fall of communism in Poland. Schwarz first came to Poland in 1981 to photograph Solidarity, and later returned to document traces of the Jewish heritage. On the project "Traces of Memory" he worked with the anthropologist Jonathan Webber. Schwarz died in 2007, and the institution carries on.

Permanent exhibitions

The main exhibition is titled "Traces of Memory" and consists of 140 large-format colour photographs taken in towns and villages of former Galicia. They show places left by more than 800 years of Jewish culture in Poland: synagogues, cemeteries and buildings that changed their purpose after the Holocaust. The exhibition is not a story about the Holocaust itself, but about what remained after it and how that landscape looks today.

The second permanent exhibition, "Ten Polish Cities", presents the stories of ten people born in the 20th century, from various Jewish backgrounds. The third, "KEF is Fun", is aimed at the youngest visitors and explains the basics of Judaism and Jewish tradition. Besides these the museum shows temporary exhibitions, so the line-up changes over time.

Education and meetings

The museum runs museum lessons, lectures, workshops and art classes for pupils from primary to secondary school, as well as materials on the history of the Holocaust. It organises meetings with witnesses of history and educational trips around Kraków and Poland. On site there are a bookshop with books on Jewish life, culture and literature in several languages, and a café.

Nearby

The museum lies in the heart of the former Jewish quarter. A few dozen metres away stands the Old Synagogue, the oldest in the city, today also a museum. A little further, about a kilometre away, is Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory with its exhibition on occupied Kraków.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Dajwór 18, Kraków (Kazimierz).
• According to the museum's website it is open daily from 10 to 18. Before your visit check the current hours at galiciajewishmuseum.org.
• The exhibitions include displays aimed at children, and a visit also works in rainy weather.
• Kazimierz is easy to explore on foot, and all the places mentioned are a short walk apart.