if you’re traveling in Poland I would recommend the city and spending more time here than in Warsaw. This has a lot of history, many older sites, is a smaller city and is extremely interesting. It is also the entryway to the Auschwitz memorial.
Fryderyk Chopin
born 1.03.1810, died 17.10.1849
Composer and pianist. Born in Zelazowa Wola; when he was no more than seven years old he was already believed to be a musical genius. He is considered the greatest Polish composer and the creator of the so-called “national school” of Romantic music. He was known as the poet of the piano and a master of harmony, simplicity and moderation in music. His music drew Inspiration from Polish folk music. His works, in particular the Polonaises and Mazurkas, have become symbols of Polishness.
insoiration from Polish folk music. mis works, in parcula une polonaises ano mazuras, nave Decome symoois of rousnness.
The great majority of all Chopin’s works are piano compositions: waltzes, rondos, varlations, études, preludes, nocturnes, ballades, scherzos, sonatas and songs. Fryderyk Chopin’s premature death as an émigré in Paris marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history of his artistic and spiritual presence in world culture. The ceremony of the unveiling of the Medallion of Fryderyk Chopin – a copy of the original that lies on his tombat PCre Lachaise cemetery in Paris, was held at Wawel Cathedral on
28.02.2010 – on the day of the inauguration of the Chopin Year.
The Wall of Tears During the Second World War the Remuh cemetery was utterly devastated and profaned by the Nazis. Most of the tombstones were smashed. According to some of the testimonies, the Nazis planned to pave the pavement in the Kazimierz district with the broken matzevot. There is a well known story about the group of Polish doctors and lecturers of Krakow Medical College who collected fragments of the matzevot in order to give it back to the Jews. The brave doctors were harshly punished for their heroic act and sent to the concentration camp. The broken matzevot which were not fit for reconstruction were integrated into the wall, which was later called “The Wall of Tears”. Thus the precious monuments of Jewish funeral art were protected. Many of the matzevot are of exceptional historical and artistic value. They are a testament to the memory of the Jewish community and their thriving life in Krakow’s Kazimierz. – Fragments of the tombstones from the 16th-18th centuries discovered during excavation and conservation works conducted between 1958-68.
During the Second World War the Remuh cemetery was utterly devastated and profaned by the Nazis. Most of the tombstones were smashed. According to some of the testimonies, the Nazis planned to pave the pavement in the Kazimierz district with the broken matzevot. There is a well known story about the group of Polish doctors and lecturers of Krakow Medical College who collected fragments of the matzevot in order to give it back to the Jews.
The brave doctors were harshly punished for their heroic act and sent to the concentration camp.
The Remuh (Remu) Synagogue Built centuries ago, to all the Jews this synagogue is the most sacred place in Cracow. Throughout the centuries it endured fires, wars and plagues. Its walls preserve the memory of the ages long gone. The place is inhabited by “Shekhinah” (Hebrew: Presence of God from the time it was founded up to these days.
It is at this building that the great scholars studied Torah and Talmud day and night, at this courtyard that picturesque Jewish weddings took place, it is here that Jewish life once thrived. The Hebrew inscription on the gate reads: “This is the Gate to the New Synagogue dedicated to the blessed memory of Remuh”.
It is at the time of Black Death which
plagued the Town of The Polish Kings in the second half of the 16th century that Rabbi Israel (Isserl Lasers), son of Josef erected the synagogue to commemorate his wife, Dinah Malka, the daughter of Rabbi Eleazar, who died of this disease. The synagogue was named after his son, the great scholar, Rabbi Moses Isserles, called “Remuh”. The official opening of the Synagogue took place in 1558. Thanks to the efforts of the Jewish Community and attentive care of the experts from the Civic Committee for the Restoration of Krakow Heritage, the Remuh Synagogue regained its former splendour. Presently the Remuh Synagogue is the Chief Synagogue of the Jewish Community in Krakow. It is here that everyday and holiday prayers take place. In 2016 the former women’s gallery was adapted as the so-called “Shtiebel”, the place where the local Jewish community as well as the Jews from all over the world can pray and study the works of Rabbi Remuh.
