Krakow’s Jewish Quarter & the Wartime Ghetto Expert-led Walk

Discover Kraków’s Kazimierz, the historic Jewish quarter, on a guided walk with an expert local guide. The tour begins by the Old Synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue in Poland, and continues to the courtyard of the Popper Synagogue. See Helena Rubinstein’s birthplace and hear about the Jewish families who shaped the district.

Popper Syngagouge

The highlight is entry to the Remuh Synagogue, an important active house of prayer in Kraków. Next door is the historic Jewish cemetery, viewed from the outside while your guide explains its history and symbols, from old headstones to traditions of remembrance.

From there the walk continues past the baroque Isaac Synagogue, the Kupa Synagogue, and the elegant Tempel Synagogue, once the center of reform Jewish life. Along the way your guide points out traces of Jewish heritage and stories of everyday life before the war—markets, crafts, and community life. You will also explore lively Nowy Square, the beating heart of modern Kazimierz with its cafés and street food.

Kupa Synagogue

Tempel Synagogue

Plac Nowy

The route leads through Spielberg Passage, known from the film Schindler’s List, site of the stairway scene, before reaching the Gothic Corpus Christi Basilica, a reminder of Kazimierz’s Christian heritage.

Cross the Vistula River. On the opposite bank lies Podgórze, site of the wartime ghetto. The first stop is Józefińska 14, once home to the Judenrat, the Jewish Council under Nazi rule

From there, you continue to Ghetto Heroes Square, the heart of the ghetto, where deportations to extermination camps took place. Today, the square is marked by the symbolic Chair Memorial, with each chair representing a life lost.

Across the square stands the Under the Eagle Pharmacy, where Tadeusz Pankiewicz and his staff courageously aided ghetto residents, preserving medicine and hope. A short walk away is Józefińska 41, a building that housed the Jewish orphanage, a welfare office, and the ghetto hospital, all central to daily survival in this confined district.

Next are the remains of the Ghetto Walls, a stark reminder of the tight enclosure that once separated ghetto residents from the rest of the city.

The walk then leads to Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory on Lipowa Street. It was here that Schindler employed and protected over a thousand Jewish workers, saving them from deportation. Today the factory houses a museum dedicated to the wartime history of Kraków and the fate of its Jewish community.