Ghetto Heroes Square

Ghetto Heroes Square (Plac Bohaterów Getta) is an open square in the Podgórze district of Kraków that was the centre of the Kraków Ghetto, and people come to stand where its history happened rather than to see a conventional sight. From March 1941 the ghetto walled off this part of the city, and this square became the assembly point from which Jewish residents were deported during the liquidation of 13 to 14 March 1943. Since 2005 the space has held a memorial of 70 oversized empty iron chairs, which makes a visit quiet, direct and hard to forget.

The memorial that fills the square is a field of 70 oversized iron chairs, set in rows across the paving and facing different directions. Designed by architects Piotr Lewicki and Kazimierz Latak and installed in 2005, the chairs stand for the furniture and belongings that deported residents left behind, and by extension the people themselves. The idea drew on the memoir of Tadeusz Pankiewicz, a pharmacist who witnessed the deportations from the square, who described furniture and possessions strewn across the ground after the ghetto was cleared. Sitting on one of the chairs is part of the point, so the memorial invites you into the space rather than keeping you at a distance.

Podgórze was chosen by the German occupiers as the site of the Kraków Ghetto, established in March 1941, and this square sat at its core as a gathering ground and marketplace. During the ghetto's liquidation on 13 and 14 March 1943, Jews were assembled here before being sent to camps, which is why the square is named for the ghetto's heroes. The memorial's design received a special mention in the 2006 European Prize for Urban Public Space, recognition that it turns a difficult history into a place the whole city can enter. It is a memorial you walk through rather than a monument you view from a railing.

This is a free, open public square rather than a ticketed attraction, so you can walk in at any time, and it suits anyone interested in the history of wartime Kraków or in thoughtful public design. Take time to read the plaques and to notice the pharmacy on the edge of the square, the former Under the Eagle premises where Pankiewicz worked, which today operates as a museum (check current opening hours and admission through official channels before you go). Photography is fine, though the tone of the place asks for some restraint. Allow around twenty to thirty minutes if you want to sit, read and take it in properly.

The square sits in Podgórze on the south bank of the Vistula, a short walk or tram ride from the Old Town and Kazimierz covered in our Kraków guide. It pairs naturally with other Podgórze sites tied to the same history, including the nearby Schindler's Factory museum, so many visitors combine them into a single half day. Coming here after the crowds of the centre gives the visit a very different weight. It is one of the most direct places in the city to understand what happened to Kraków's Jewish community.