Europe 2019

After my tour of the Jewish Quarter this morning I visited Schlinders factory and the memorial to those transported from the ghetto here. The Krakow Jewish ghetto existed from 1941 to 1943 with 8 transportations in this time. Most of the transportations went immediately took death camps, with only one to Auschwitz. I believe the chair memorial is very poignant, with 68 chairs representing the 68,000 jews that lived in the city before the war.

The Schlinders factory museum was an interesting visit, giving a little more insight into the story of what happened here. Schlinder is a very controversial figure; some call him a hero for saving an estimated 1,200 lives, others say he made a lot of money from Jewish slave labour. I personally believe his efforts to save so many should be remembered as an example of humanity in the darkest times.Read more