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History of Krakow Early middleages 966 - 1370 Krakow is capital of Poland The Golden Age 1386 - 1572 the times of the Renaissance Electing Kings and Dividing the country 1572 - 1795 Poland disappears from the map K&K Monarchy 1795 - 1918 The Habsburg's Reich third largest city First and Second World War 1914 - 1945 A short period of democray, then the terror of the Nazis Socialism 1945 - 1989 Years of stagnation before the final upheaval After the Iron Curtain 1989 until today Difficulties with a new economy

First and Second World War The former super powers Prussia, Austria - which in an agreement with Russia had split Poland's territory among them - are defeated by the "Belle Alliance" Great Britain and France, joind by the United States. Poland as a state with a territory reappears to existance. The capital of this Polish "Second republic" (the first came to bein for just a few years during the Napoleonic wars) is Warsaw. However, just like in Germany, democracy as a new way of government is unable to cope with the problems and results of the war. There are worker rebellions, and outbursts of anti-semitism, too. Jews' access to universities is being restricted. 1939 Hitler orders the German army to attack Poland. The Second World War begins. A few weeks after in invasion the Polish army capitulates. Krakow becomes a headquarter of the Nazis. Horst Frank, the gouverner of the newly created "Wandalengau" ("District of Vandals"), resides in Wawel castle. In the prison cells of the Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei = Secret Police of the State) more than 15 000 prisoners are being tortured and killed. In Kazimierz the Nazis set up one of the largest ghettos in Poland. In 1942 the surviving Jews are transfered to the newly built "concentration camp" Auschwitz-Birkenau, only 60 km west of Krakow. Auschwitz-Birkenau is the most terrible of all the KZs the Nazis set up. Some 1.5 million people are "gassed", i.e. killed by poisoned air. Oskar Schindler ("Schindler's List") lived in Krakow, his address was Straszewskigo 7. Krakow remains almost untouched by the war. When in 1945 the Red Army advanced very fast the German army did not make Hitler's "Order of Burnt Soil" come true, bringing the dynamite mounted to the buildings of Krakow to explosion. >> The years of socialism

 

Krakow City Guide | Orientation | Sightseeing | Going Out | Accommodation | E-mail