Raphael Kessler

I returned to Poland to visit a friend, studying in Krakow. Eleven years after my previous visit, changes were noticeable immediately. In the time since I was there previously, the commercial aspects had changed beyond recognition. It was also the case that the vast majority of people (particularly younger folk) now spoke English, which was previously a minority second language.

On this trip I was based in the Kazimierz area of Krakow, once again I was there at the coldest time of year. At least the snow made it look pretty. Kazimierz (named for a former King of Poland) was previously the Jewish area of the city. The jews were relocated by the Nazis to the ghetto nearby and then liquidated, with few exceptions. One notable survivor was the film maker Roman Polanski.

The Jewish community in the area has subsequently had a limited resurgence and some of the synagogues and cemetaries have been restored. There are also now Jewish Style (not kosher) restaurants, for people to go try the food that jews like to eat.

The main Jewish Cemetary in Kazimierz was utterly destroyed and the gravestones used for paving. This has now been restored where possible and the graves reinstated in many instances. The monument and walls however are made up of those fragments which could not be reassembled.

Krakow castle is on a single raised point in the city. It is not a castle in classical sense, with the ramparts, crenellations and fortifications one might otherwise expect. It is pretty however and from its walls, one has a vantage of the parks and river nearby, as well as across the city.

The Peter and Paul Church has statues of saints in front which I thought made it stand out. At night it is lit up and with the snow on the saints it gives an almost ethereal sense to it.

The Rynek is Krakow's main square with the cloth market down the middle. There are several churches and old buildings around it too. It was for many years the largest square in Europe. Under the Rynek is an impressive museum from the excavations that took place in 2005 when the entire square was removed, covered in tents and subjected to archeological excavations. It was then put back again with supports placed in order to protect the museum and artifacts beneath.

Streets

Wieliczka salt mines near to Krakow are well worth a visit. They have been in operation in one way or another for about seven hundred years. Within the mines are chapels, statues and other carvings. All of which were done by the miners themselves. Some are better than others, though considering that all of it is carved in to impure rocksalt, it is all quite impressive.

My first time in Poland, the first city I visited, coming from the northern border with Lithuania, was Gdansk. The town centre was mostly destroyed in the Second World War and subsequently rebuilt in the old Art nouveau style (photo 1), although some of the buildings were left almost unscathed (photo 2). It was just down the road from Gdansk in Westerplatte that the Second World War started in 1939.

In Malbork an old castle was mostly destroyed in WWII and has been reconstructed (photo 1). Although nicely done it has no feeling of rusticity or authenticity. The whole area was completely snowbound including the boats on the river (photo 2). As a result of the snow cover the locals have to use sleds instead of prams (photo 3).

In Warsaw the changing of the guard (photo 1) at the tomb of the unknown soldier was quite amusing. Warsaw's town centre (photo 2) was totally rebuilt after the war as it was totally destroyed by the Germans who went house to house dynamiting the buildings. The reconstruction is impressive as it has been done tastefully and truthfully, the problem being that the bricks that were "donated" by cities that were previously largely unscathed but ended up having to destroy their own old and attractive town centres to meet the quotas.  The former Royal Palace is amongst the buildings rebuilt (background of photo 3). Many of its contents were returned from East Germany, which is where they had been stashed.