SCHINDLER'S FACTORY
Jewish Quarter, Jewish Ghetto in Podgorze, the ghetto wall, Oscar Schindler’s Enamel Factory, Plaschau Labor Camp
Duration: 2-5 hours
Krakow was occupied by Germans during World War II, and ruled from Wawel castle. Steven Spielberg came to Krakow in 1993 to film the famous movie “Schindler’s List”, a moving account of Oskar Schindler a likable businessman who, despite the appearance of exploiting the Jews, actually saved them. In honor of Oskar Schindler we visit those places in which the film was shot.
We begin our tour in the beautiful cobble-stone streets of Kazimierz and visit the actual sites that appeared in Steven Spielberg’s film. We will then walk to Podgorze and tour the actual ghetto in which the Polish Jews of Krakow were forcibly incarcerated by the German occupiers. A short walk away is the Schindler enamel ware factory in which Oskar Schindler employed “his” Jews, saving many from deportation to Belzec and Auschwitz, those death camps which martyred the Polish Jews of Krakow.
Remnants of the Podgorze ghetto wall will be pointed out to those interested. For those hardier individuals of our groups, we can walk to the actual Labor Camp/Extermination Camp of Plaschau (Plaszow) where many people of different European states, mainly Jews, met their death at the hands of the Germans. Near the camp, we can visit the house of Amon Goth, the psychopathic killer who ruled the Plaschau Labor camp with fear and dread. The balcony in which he shot innocent workers is still visible to this day.
