Schindler’s Factory

---

The next morning, having sussed the tram ticket question, we were all set to go.

The exhibition at what was Schindler’s factory was incredible, immersing you in the times through film, lighting, audio and stage sets that disoriented you completely through the use of screen printed images on floor to ceiling glass panels. Was that another person over there? Have I just bumped into that little boy or girl? Is that tram coming my way? The worst was the walk through the dark narrow passage of tombstones with uneven ground not knowing (but really knowing) what was coming next. Eye witness and survivor accounts of the last days of the Ghetto, 13/14 March 1942, were very distressing.

Oskar Schindler was a businessman and wanted to keep his Jewish workers as they were free i.e. slave, labour. That said, he did save the lives of over 1000 people. Interviews with some of the survivors were very moving. The whole thing was a very heart wrenching experience, especially when you emerged into a bright sunny day. I’m sure you have all seen Stephen Speilberg’s film Schindler’s List. It was filmed not in Podgorze where the ghetto actually was but over the river in Kazimierz where the run-down buildings suited the setting more.

We were buoyed somewhat by lunch at a very trendy, green cafe nearby, before going into the Modern Art Gallery. Some works in there were equally depressing with artists commenting on the current global situation. We are always amazed at artists’ ability to think laterally about issues and present their ideas in a very simple yet effective way, often through their use of materials.

We had tickets for the Pharmacy Under the Eagle belonging to Tadeusz Pankiewicz, a non Jewish Pole, but got there ten mins after it closed. Located on the Square of Heroes during the time of the Ghetto, he continued dispensing medicines to inhabitants, often without charge, until the final deportation. His memoir, The Cracow Ghetto Pharmacy, describes in detail the events of the short life of the Ghetto and the actions he witnessed.

The temperatures were still very hot, late 20s. We caught the tram back without incident! And got off at the right stop!

---

Photos

The plaque outside Schindler’s Factory
Which is now a very moving museum

Ptaszow cncentration camp...
...where those who could work were sent from the ghetto. Lifelike even down to the gravel on the floor.

A Siberian forest made of ‘Made in China’ hand towels
Siberia is worried about China encroaching on its territory

Old furniture crowded into a small space...
... just like the possessions of the Jews after liquidation of the ghetto were all crowded into the square

A lit set representation of the EU...
...note the UK (top left) is now missing