The many WWII sites in Kraków that you can visit cover some of the darkest, most depraved moments in history. From the nearby concentration camps to the informative museums (and beyond), you’ll learn about some of the Nazi regime’s most heinous crimes. But you’ll also learn about some incredible Jewish resistance here as well and even a bear soldier. (Yes, a literal bear served in the Polish army!)
This post covers the most popular and accessible WWII sites in Kraków you should consider visiting. It includes museums, monuments and memorials, original historical sites, and even the nearby concentration camps.
Kraków is also sometimes spelled like Cracow, but both refer to the same place.
Kraków during World War II
Having invaded Poland (and started World War II) on September 1, 1939, Nazi troops moved into Kraków just five days later. They mercilessly occupied the city until Soviet forces arrived on January 18, 1945. The following are some of the most notable events from the Nazi occupation of Kraków that you’re most likely to learn about while here.
Also read: WWII Sites to Visit in Gdańsk – Where WWII Started
Kraków Ghetto
After already annexing much of the city and expelling more than 55,000 of Kraków’s Jews to nearby towns, the Germans established a formal ghetto here in March 1941. In just a few short weeks, they concentrated the majority of Kraków’s Jewish population within its borders–between 15,000-20,000 Jews.
Life in the ghetto was miserable (to say the least) and its residents constantly suffered from overcrowding, hunger, illness and disease, and regular deportations to extermination camps.
Liquidating the ghetto
On March 13-14, 1943, Nazis authorities decided to “liquidate” the Kraków ghetto. During this chaotic process, they shot and killed over 2,000 Jews and deported around 3,000 to the killing center at Auschwitz-Birkenau. They rounded up another 2,000 Jews who they considered capable of forced labor and sent them to Płaszów. They sent thousands more to their deaths at Belzec.
I could never do the horror of this event justice here, so I encourage you to watch the movie Schindler’s List. Director Steven Spielberg has done an unforgettable job of illustrating what the horror of the Kraków ghetto liquidation was like. (Look for it around the 56:00 mark.)
Following the prisoner uprisings in the Warsaw ghetto and at the Treblinka and Sobibor extermination camps, the SS decided to murder all remaining Jews in the Kraków ghetto (around 9,000). They sent them to the camp at Płaszów where fellow SS orchestrated multiple mass shootings.
Oskar Schindler
Kraków, Poland during World War II was the home and workplace of Oskar Schindler. His famous enamel factory was located very close to the Kraków ghetto. Throughout the war, he employed more and more Jews from the ghetto at his factory as a way of saving them from the gas chambers.
All said and done, by war’s end Schindler had saved the lives of approximately 1,200 Jews, all at great expense and danger to himself. Yad Vashem awarded Schindler the title of “Righteous Among the Nations”–a title bestowed upon non-Jews who helped save the lives of Jews during the Holocaust.
This is an incredibly brief summary of this incredible historical figure, so I beg you to watch Schindler’s List to learn more about him and these events. Even if you’ve already seen it, definitely watch it again before your visit.
Map of WWII sites in Kraków
This map contains all the WWII sites in Kraków I mention in this post. To save this map: Click on the star ⭑ next to the map’s title to save in your Google Maps. To use this map: When you get here, open Google Maps on your phone, click “Saved” at the bottom, then click “Maps.”
If you’ll be driving around Poland, check out rental car deals here. This is the company I used in 2024 and I had a great rental car experience in Poland.
WWII museums in Kraków
Here are some of Kraków’s interesting museums where you can learn about the city’s wartime history.
1. Oskar Shindler’s Enamel Factory
When Germany invaded Poland, Oskar Schindler (a member of the Nazi Party) took over the metalworks factory here in Kraków. What became known as Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik (DEF) produced all kinds of enamelware products from pots and pans to ammunition shells.
Initially, Schindler took advantage of his proximity to the ghetto and hired Jews he didn’t have to pay. (He did have to pay a fee to the SS in order to use them, but it was negligible.) Working conditions inside the factory were pretty harsh, but Schindler fed his workers better than any other employer, meals which he paid for out of his own pocket.
As time went on, either through bribes or under the guise of “efficiency,” Schindler improved the living and working conditions of his Jewish employees. When the Kraków ghetto was liquidated, he saved the lives of those he could by sheltering them in his factory. He further used his factory to hire Jews who would otherwise be sent straight to the extermination camps, eventually saving more than 1,200 of them from certain death.
Visiting Schindler’s factory
Today, you can visit Schindler’s famous enamelware factory here in Kraków. But I should warn you, it’s probably not what you think it is. Personally, I was hoping I’d get to see the former factory and learn more about Schindler and the work that was done here during the war. Unfortunately, that’s not even close to accurate.
Instead, Schindler’s factory today is simply a generic museum about World War II. There are a couple of small rooms dedicated to him and this history, but that’s all. Otherwise, you’ll wind your way through exhibit after exhibit on general WWII topics, with a slight focus on Kraków during the Nazi occupation.
The rooms are small and the passageways are narrow, so in the summer it can get pretty crowded and bottlenecked in many places. The whole exhibition also feels quite outdated, but there are some interesting parts to it. Just be aware that this is not a museum about Oskar Schindler and his factory. But you do get to say you’ve been inside Schindler’s factory, so that’s worth visiting alone, in my opinion.
Pro tip: Since this is one of the most popular “attractions” in Kraków, you will need to book your admission ticket(s) in advance and as soon as you can.
Also check out this list of WWII sites in Regensburg, Germany (where Schindler lived after the war); you can see two of his houses.
2. Eagle Pharmacy
A short walk from Schindler’s Factory is the Eagle Pharmacy or the Apotheke unter dem Adler (Pharmacy under the Eagle). During World War II, the Eagle Pharmacy was the only pharmacy located within the boundaries of the Kraków ghetto.
Besides being a cozy meeting place for Jews, it also became a site of resistance. Jews could pick up items here that could help them avoid deportation such as hair dye and sedatives to smuggle their children out of the ghetto. It also provided hiding spaces during ghetto liquidations.
Today, you can visit this incredible place and learn all about its history and the man who ran it–Tadeusz Pankiewicz, a non-Jew who was given special permission to operate the pharmacy and who was later awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations.
The neatest thing about visiting the Eagle Pharmacy is that they’ve set it up in such a way that the entire space is interactive. You’re not only allowed, but encouraged to open all the drawers and cabinets, sift through the files and books, and even smell the different substances you come across. Of all the WWII sites in Kraków I’ve visited, this one is my favorite.
3. Pomorska Street Museum
From September 1939 until January 1945, the building at 2 Pomorska (aka Pomeranian) Street served as the location of a gestapo headquarters. As such, it also served as a prison and a place for interrogation, torture, and execution.
Now a museum, its permanent exhibition focuses on the citizens of Kraków and the terror they endured from 1939-1945. It includes tons of great artifacts and even the preserved prisoner cells where you can still see the handwritten inscriptions from prisoners.
4. Home Army Museum
Just a little bit north of the city center is the Museum of the Polish Army (Home Army Museum). This museum focuses on presenting a “comprehensive image of the Polish Underground State.” Its goals are to “show the life of the nation that continued to exist as a state under German and Soviet occupation” and the “personal dimension of the war” through the experiences of individual people involved.
The Polish Home Army was the primary resistance movement within the General Government (the German-occupied area of Poland). It was responsible for sabotaging German transportation networks and other critical logistics, and most notably the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.
Concentration camps near Kraków
There are two former concentration camps located quite close to Kraków, both of which you can visit today.
5. Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp
Auschwitz-Birkenau, the most infamous of all Nazi concentration camps, is located just an hour outside Kraków. During its 4.5 years of operation, SS operatives killed one million Jews at Auschwitz, the most of any Nazi killing center.
There’s so much more you should know about Auschwitz and what a visit here is like, so I’ve written a full post on this. Check out my essential guide to visiting Auschwitz here for everything you need to know.
6. Płaszów Concentration Camp
At just 30 minutes away, the Płaszów concentration camp is another historical site you can easily visit while in Kraków. This is the camp that was featured in the movie Schindler’s List that was under the charge of commandant Amon Göth (evil incarnate, if you ask me). If you’ve seen the movie, then you’re already familiar with the kind of brutality he enacted here.
Today, you can visit the open-air KL Płaszów memorial site and walk the special walking path that consists of 14 informative historical stops. This is open to the public 24 hours a day and free of charge. (As of March 2025, the brand new museum they’re building here is still under construction. You can stop on top of updates at the link below, but I’ll update this post when things change.)
WWII memorials in Kraków
Here are some interesting WWII monuments and memorials in Kraków you should check out.
7. Ghetto Heroes Memorial
In the open plaza outside the Eagle Pharmacy, you’ll find several statues of empty chairs. This is known as Jewish Heroes Square or Ghetto Heroes Square. These chairs are part of the Ghetto Heroes memorial. This square was where the SS would gather thousands of Jews from the ghetto ahead of the mass deportations. Each of the 33 chairs here signifies 1,000 lives lost.
The inspiration behind the memorial came from the personal diary of Tadeusz Pankiewicz who ran the Eagle Pharmacy. He wrote that, out in the square, “an incalculable number of wardrobes, tables, sideboards, and other furniture was rotting.” (Referring to the hastily abandoned lives of those deported to the camps.)
8. Katyń memorial cross
In the square in front of St. Giles’ Church stands the Cross of Katyń. This large cross honors the victims of the Katyń Massacre – the 1940 mass murder of 22,000 Polish military officers by the Soviet Secret Police in the Katyń Forest (located outside present-day Smolensk, Russia).
9. Martyrdom monument to those shot on 20 October 1943
This small memorial in the northwestern part of the city is just a 5-min walk from the Pomorska Street Prison/Museum. It commemorates those who were killed in this spot on October 20th, 1943. Beyond that, little information exists on this event but I’ve reached out to some people to try to get more. Stay tuned.
Other WWII sites in Kraków
Here are a few additional WWII sites in Kraków that are worth a quick visit.
10. Remains of the Kraków Ghetto Wall
Like in Warsaw, remnants of the Kraków ghetto wall still stand in some places. One such place is just a short walk from the Eagle Pharmacy, between a tattoo shop and (what I think is) a glass factory. This short wall fragment, covered in moss in many places but otherwise well intact, also contains a small memorial plaque. In both Hebrew and Polish, it reads:
They lived, suffered and died at the hands of Nazi torturers.
From here she leads them the last way to the extermination campsFragment of the walls of the Jewish Ghetto 1941-1943
11. New Jewish Cemetery
During the war, the Germans looted Kraków’s Jewish cemetery for its headstones and other stonework to pave the road to the Płaszów concentration camp and other projects. Skeletal remains were left scattered about and the cemetery was otherwise closed off.
It was finally renovated in 1957, with some of the recovered tombstones from the original cemetery re-installed here. It then became known as the New Cemetery. In 1999, it made it onto the list of official historical monuments. Inside the New Cemetery are several monuments and memorials dedicated to those killed by the Nazi regime.
12. Wojtek the Bear statue
Over in Henryk Jordan Park, which is filled with busts and memorial statues, don’t miss the one dedicated to Wojtek the bear. If you don’t know Wojtek’s story yet, you definitely should!
The short version goes: The Polish Army adopted Wojtek as an abandoned cub and eventually enlisted him officially as a soldier. He traveled to Italy and served with the 2nd Polish Corps in the Battle of Monte Cassino. His duties included tasks like moving artillery shells and heavy crates that typically took four men to carry.
After Monte Cassino, Wojtek was promoted from private to corporal. The Polish Army’s 22nd Artillery Supply Company then adopted the image of a bear carrying an artillery shell as its official emblem.
Wojtek then traveled with the 22nd to Scotland where he became super popular with the locals and local media. After the war, he moved into the Edinburgh Zoo where he lived out the rest of his life. Wojtek died on December 2, 1963 at 21 years old.
WWII tours in Kraków
In case you’d like to visit some of these historical sites with an expert guide, here are a few of the most popular World War II tours available in Kraków:
Where to stay in Kraków
There are so many great hotels to choose from to explore the WWII sites in Kraków. Here are a few places to begin your search:
There are plenty more Kraków hotels to choose from though; see all Kraków hotel options here.
Suggested books and movies
If you’d like to read more about these topics or watch some related movies, check out the following:
More info for your visit to Poland
- Hotels: Find great places to stay on Booking.com (my go-to). Expedia and Hotels.com are worth checking too. VRBO is best for apartment rentals.
- Rental cars: Check out the best local rental car deals here.
- For more local tours, check out all the options from Viator and Get Your Guide.
- Don’t forget a Poland guidebook and this must-have Poland customs and culture guide!
- Want more? See all my Poland posts here.
Like this post? Have questions about visiting any of the WWII sites in Kraków? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading.
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