We will walk by the Ghetto Heroes Square which is just across the river in Podgorze suburb. Though after the war the name of Plac Zgody was changed to Plac Bohaterów Getta (Ghetto Heroes Square) and a small monument was erected, the space’s historical significance never felt more pertinent than its post-war use as a public toilet or parking lot. Finally, after decades of neglect, Plac Bohaterów Getta was renovated in 2005, sparking significant controversy over the design. Laid out with 70 large well-spaced metal chairs meant to symbolise departure, as well as subsequent absence, the entire square has essentially been turned into an odd, but iconic memorial to the victims of the Kraków Ghetto.

Plaszow Concentration Camp

Plaszow Camp was created by the Nazis in October 1942 on the grounds of two Jewish cemeteries in Krakow. It began as a forced-labor camp for Jews from the liquidated Krakow ghetto; in July 1943 the site also gained a penal-labor section for Poles. In January 1944 it was redesignated a concentration camp. Over time, transports arrived from other dismantled ghettos and labor camps; later in 1944 the site also served as a transit point for Hungarian Jews. More than 35,000 people were imprisoned here and around 6,000 were murdered. Today the terrain shows modest traces—ruins of the pre-burial hall, paths once paved with broken gravestones, mass graves, and memorials. On this guided walk you will learn how the camp was organized—living quarters, hospital, administrative and industrial zones—and why so little remains. The history is reconstructed in place, from authentic points such as the Grey House, the roll-call square, and major memorials that mark the former boundaries of the camp.