Contemporary Jewish Life in Krakow

Krakow was one of the main centres of the Jewish culture in Europe before the Second World War. Now, only some hundreds Jews are living in Krakow but the community is growing. Remarkably, non-Jewish polish people initiated this process of a new Jewish life in Kazimierz, the old Jewish quartier in Krakow. As a consequence of this activity people with a so-called hidden Jewish identity discovered their Jewishness. Together with Jews from Israel and the USA they are now building up a new Jewish life. This would never be possible without the numerous non-Jewish people working in Krakow. This Jewish life in Krakow is not a returning phenomena of a disappeared life of the past. It's more a re-emerging or new creation phenomena with several different faces and characters. Some people criticize this movement as a “transient business driven Disneyland bubble” and others understand it as a serious attempt to search for a new Jewish identity in the war traumatised Poland. One of the vibrant places is the Jewish Community Centre (JCC), which acts a "we space" for Jews and for people interested in Judaism. The main event is the Jewish Culture Festival, which is still organized by non-Jewish people. This makes this Jewish life unique in the Jewish world.