Krakow is located in southern Poland and is its third largest city.. By 1939, the Jewish population was 60,000. The German Army occupied the city on September 6, 1939, and in November, the Judenrat was formed. On March 3, 1941, a ghetto was established, and by late 1941, 18,000 Jews were imprisoned in the ghetto. At the end of May, 1942, the Germans began deporting Jews from the ghetto to the death camps. By the time the ghetto was liquidated in March, 1943, the Jewish population had been reduced to 4,300. These remaining Jews were transferred to the labor camp at Plaszow (located in a Krakow suburb) and to Auschwitz. At this point, Plaszow became a concentration camp. In April, 1944, about 10,000 Jews arrived from Hungary. By the time Plaszow was liberated by the Soviet army in January, 1945, about 150,000 Jews had passed through Plaszow. Only a few hundred survived.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of a registered cover dated in September 1941 from O. Herbst in the Krakow ghetto to Henryka Rosenzweig in New York City. The cover contains the one line cachet of the Judenrat. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Cover" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of two postcards. The first is a postcard from Krakow to Teschenstochau which was never sent. This card contains a four line boxed cachet in Hebrew, a one line Judenrat cachet and a 70gr. postage due cancel. The second is a postcard mailed from Krakau on February 24, 1942, to Switzerland. The card contains a one line Judenrat cachet. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Postcards 1-2" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of two postcards. The first is a postcard dated October 9, 1941, from "Cyla Ferlier- Krakau Jewish Quarter" to Ruth Schretter in Kaminsk. In the letter, the writer indicates that "I feel imprisoned...you know that Krakaw was cut into different sections...ours is extremely crowded...we locked here as noodles in a pot...there is no hope for the future...." The second is a postcard dated December 10, 1943 from the Welfare Division of the Judenrat to Prague. The card contains a four line cachet of the Welfare Division. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Postcards 3-4" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of two postcards. The first is a postcard was mailed from Krakau on October 23, 1941, to Genova, Italy. The card contains a one line Judenrat cachet and German censor markings. The second is a registered postcard mailed from Krakaw on September 23, 1941, to Italy. The card contains a one line Judenrat cachet, and Genova backstamps dated September 28, 1941. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Postcards 5-6" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of three postcards. The first is a postcard mailed from Krakow to Relico in Switzerland. Relico (the acronym for the Relief Committee for the War-Stricken Jewish Population) was established in Geneva in September 1939 under the auspices of the World Jewish Congress. The postcard acknowledges receipt of packages from Relico. The card contains a one line Judenrat cachet. The second is a postcard mailed from Krakow to Relico in Geneva, Switzerland. The postcard is from Bernard Grossman with a request that the postcard be delivered to his brother in New York. The postcard contains a large 5-line boxed receival handstamp "Committee For Relief of the War Stricken Jewish Population... Geneva" and a 2-line "Received 6 Sept 1940". The third is a postcard from the ghetto in Krakow postmarked May 19, 1942, addressed to Lisbon and bearing a Lisbon cancellation dated May 26, 1942. The card contains a one line Judenrat cachet and numerous censor marks. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Postcards 7-9" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of four documents from the Ghetto administration in Krakow. The first document is from the Judische Soziale Selbsthilfe dated June 28, 1942. The last three documents are dated October 9, 1943, January 1, 1944 and April 12, 1944, respectively, and the name of the organization has been changed to the Judische Unterstutzungsstelle For Das Generalgouvernement. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Ghetto Documents" in the left frame to return.
Below is a thumbnail of the front and back of a complete sheet of food coupons for Jews. The sheet contains 56 coupons for five different types of food. Each coupon is is imprinted with a red "J" for Jews. The sheet also has a yellow Star of David at the top center. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Ration Cards" in the left frame to return.
Below is a thumbnail of an ID card issued by the Nazi authorities in Krakow to a Jew named Mechel Bandler. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Identity Cards" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of a notice dated February 25, 1943, from the Gestapo in Krakow to a Mathias Schubert requiring him to report to the Gestapo on Monday, March 1, 1943. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "German Documents" in the left frame to return.
Encyclopedia Judaica, CD-Rom Edition, Keter Publishing
Spector, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust (2001), P. 274-80
http://www.deathcamps.org/occupation/krakow%20ghetto.html
Museum of Tolerance On Line Learning Center- Krakow
Museum of Tolerance On Line Learning Center- Krakow Ghetto
http://www.einsatzgruppenarchives.com/ghetto/krakow/krakow.html
Copyright © 2003 Edward Victor