You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
72<br />
JEWISH WROCŁAW<br />
Wrocław’s Jewish community is one of the oldest in today’s<br />
Poland, dating back to the 12th century when the city was<br />
an important trade centre along the Amber Road. Though<br />
consistently confronted with persecution - perhaps most<br />
famously during the <strong>In</strong>quisition of the 15th century when<br />
John of Capistrano inspired the public torture and burning of<br />
55 Jews on Plac Solny - Jews have steadily played a role in<br />
the development of the city. By the end of the 19th century,<br />
in fact, the Jewish community was so well integrated into<br />
Breslau society that many Jews had achieved leading positions<br />
in academic and scientific circles; at the time, these<br />
men would not have been considered any less German than<br />
they were Jewish. Breslau (as it was then known) possessed<br />
the second largest synagogue in Germany and its Jewish<br />
community was the third largest in the country with numbers<br />
that had risen to 30,000 by the time Hitler came to power.<br />
It doesn’t require much detail from us to know what befell<br />
Breslau’s wartime Jewish population. The city’s once<br />
magnificent main synagogue - torched on Kristallnacht<br />
(November 9, 1938) - says enough, with only a small memorial<br />
remembering where it once stood at ul. Łąkowa 6<br />
(A-4). What less people are aware of is that after the war<br />
when German Breslau became Polish Wrocław, the city’s<br />
Jewish population actually increased dramatically beyond<br />
its pre-war levels as the city accepted some 70,000 Jews<br />
displaced by the war - many from the Soviet Union. Ironically,<br />
Wrocław’s Jewish population reached its peak immediately<br />
after WWII; however, the anti-minority politics of the Soviet<br />
Union slowly shrank their numbers until they had been forced<br />
out of Poland completely by 1968. Since the fall of the Soviet<br />
Union that number has been resurgent again and today there<br />
are some 1,000 Jews living in Wrocław, part of a gradual<br />
transition from tracing the past to plotting the future which<br />
culminated in May 2010 with the symbolic reopening of the<br />
White Stork Synagogue.<br />
Old Jewish Cemetery (Stary Cmentarz Żydowski)<br />
E/F-7, ul. Ślężna 37/39, tel. (+48) 71 791 59 04, www.<br />
muzeum.miejskie.wroclaw.pl. Established in 1856, this<br />
4.6 hectare cemetery is perhaps the most well-preserved<br />
testament to the former strength of Breslau’s pre-war Jewish<br />
community, with over 1200 gravestones. Closed in 1942,<br />
the cemetery quickly fell into deep neglect: in 1945 it was<br />
turned into a fortress by the Nazis and saw fierce fighting<br />
as evidenced by the eerie bullet holes in many of the gravestones.<br />
Preservation began in the 1970s and in 1991 it was<br />
opened as the Museum of Jewish Cemetery Art in tribute to<br />
the craftsmanship of its sepulchral art. <strong>In</strong>deed the beauty<br />
and diversity of styles and symbols on display is perhaps<br />
unmatched anywhere. Many noteworthy figures are buried<br />
here, including the renowned biologist Ferdinand Cohn, the<br />
historian Heinrich Graetz (author of the first complete history<br />
of the Jews), Clara Immerwahl (first female PhD student at<br />
the University of Breslau, and wife of Fritz Haber, who committed<br />
suicide in objection to her husband’s work developing<br />
chemical warfare), Ferdinand Lassalle (founder and leader<br />
of the first labour party in Germany, killed in a duel), and<br />
the parents of Edith Stein; using old records some of their<br />
tombstones are slowly being restored. However, despite<br />
these modest efforts the Ślężna Street Cemetery remains a<br />
completely mysterious and evocative sanctuary of decaying<br />
vine-covered monuments, the broken pieces of which are<br />
stacked against each other, giving shelter to stray cats and<br />
shade to wildflowers. Well worth a visit, a highly informative<br />
accompanying booklet makes it even more so, despite being<br />
overpriced at 15zł. Q Open 08:00-18:00. From November<br />
open from 08:00 till dusk. Admission is 7/5zł and comes with<br />
a highly informative booklet which you may choose to either<br />
return upon exiting or purchase for 15zł.<br />
New Jewish Cemetery ul. Lotnicza 51 (Fabryczna).<br />
Located northwest of the centre, the New Jewish Cemetery was<br />
founded in 1902 when the Ślężna Street cemetery became too<br />
small and is still in use by Wrocław’s Jewish community today.<br />
That hasn’t saved it from the ravages of time however, and<br />
like the cemetery it succeeded, it stands in sharp contrast to<br />
the well-kept Catholic cemeteries across Poland. Comprising<br />
11 hectares and approximately 8,000 graves, this is the fifth<br />
largest Jewish cemetery in Poland, and as such carries an<br />
even more powerful aura of secret beauty among its maze of<br />
ivy-coved headstones and crumbling vaults. Likewise registered<br />
as an historical monument for its rich diversity of aesthetic and<br />
architectural styles, the most noteworthy tomb here is dedicated<br />
to the Jewish soldiers of the German Army who fought and died in<br />
WWI; their 432 names are etched into the top of the monument.<br />
The cemetery is currently the subject of renovation work and is<br />
only open to the pubic for a limited period (Wed 14:00-17:00,<br />
Sun 09:00-13:00) with parts of the cemetery cordoned off<br />
altogether. We advise that you contact the Jewish <strong>In</strong>formation<br />
Centre for updated information. Q Admission free.<br />
The White Stork Synagogue (Synagoga pod Białym<br />
Bocianem) E-4, ul. Włodkowica 7, tel. (+48) 71 787 39<br />
02. The only synagogue in Wrocław to escape the torches of<br />
Kristallnacht, the White Stork was built in 1829, taking its name<br />
from the inn that once stood in its place. Following the design of<br />
prominent German architect Karl Ferdinand Langhans, it is ironically<br />
considered a sterling example of 18th century Protestant<br />
sacral art. Discreetly hidden from view in a courtyard between<br />
ul. Antoniego and ul. Włodkowica, today the surrounding grounds<br />
are full of beer gardens, bohemians and graffiti; however it was<br />
here that members of the Jewish community were rounded<br />
up for deployment to the death camps during WWII. Badly<br />
damaged, but not set ablaze (thanks only to its proximity to<br />
residential buildings), the synagogue was literally left to rot after<br />
the war, before the Jewish community was finally able to recover<br />
it from the Polish government in 1996 and initiate restoration.<br />
Re-opened in May 2010, the synagogue now serves as a worship<br />
space and cultural centre, with a new multi-functional hall<br />
in the synagogue’s basement and two exhibition spaces on<br />
the balconies. One houses a permanent exhibition about the<br />
History of Jews in Wrocław and Lower Silesia, while the second<br />
balcony is for temporary exhibitions. The synagogue is free to<br />
visit for individuals, or join the daily 12:00 guided tours in Polish<br />
or English for 10/5zł. Q Open 10:00 - 16:00. Closed Sat. From<br />
December open 10:00 - 16:00, Fri 10:00 - 15:00. Closed Sat.<br />
Useful Contacts<br />
Jewish <strong>In</strong>formation Centre E-4, ul. Włodkowica<br />
9, tel. (+48) 71 787 39 02. Only doors away from the<br />
White Stork Synagogue, these folks arrange Jewish walking<br />
tours of Wrocław. They also have a wealth of books,<br />
music and events information on hand. QOpen 10:00<br />
- 16:00, Fri 10:00 - 15:00. Closed Sat, Sun.<br />
Wrocław <strong>In</strong> <strong>Your</strong> <strong>Pocket</strong> wroclaw.inyourpocket.com<br />
Marcin Wiktorski, courtesy of City Promotion Office,<br />
Muncipality of Wrocław<br />
One of Wrocław’s most popular, memorable and iconic attractions<br />
is not a cathedral, not a castle or monument, but a legion<br />
of little people: Gnomes, or ‘krasnale’ (in local parlance), to be<br />
precise. <strong>In</strong> Wrocław’s city centre these merry munchkins are<br />
simply ubiquitous, dotting doorways, alleyways and street corners,<br />
constantly underfoot but seldom seen by the unobservant.<br />
You may well overlook the first dozen or so that cross your path,<br />
but inevitably - and often literally - you will stumble upon these<br />
popular local residents. Keep your eyes peeled and you’re bound<br />
to notice the little fellas engaged in a variety of activities about<br />
town - from guarding public space to passed-out drunk. Beloved<br />
by locals and tourists alike, and the object of more photos than<br />
the towering Cathedral, these prolific pranksters have become<br />
the unlikely symbol of one of PL’s most picturesque cities.<br />
Although it sounds like little more than a twee tourist gimmick,<br />
gnomes have long held a place in Polish folklore, and<br />
their current iconic incarnation as symbols of Wrocław<br />
actually has a direct correlation to the political climate of the<br />
1980s. Under communism gnomes became the absurdist<br />
calling card of the ‘Orange Alternative’ movement - an underground<br />
protest movement that used absurdity and nonsense<br />
to stage peaceful, yet subversive protests. Armed with paint<br />
cans and led by Waldemar ‘Major’ Fydrych, an artist and art<br />
history student at Wrocław University, the group specifically<br />
ridiculed the establishment’s attempts to censor public<br />
space. During communism, any anti-establishment graffiti or<br />
public art was quickly painted over by the militia; upon seeing<br />
fresh daubs of paint, the pranksters of the Orange Alternative<br />
quickly painted over them yet again...with gnomes. As the<br />
movement gained popularity, gnomes became inexorably<br />
linked with the Orange Alternative and Wrocław, though they<br />
soon began appearing in other major Polish cities as well.<br />
For all the trouble it gave the authorities however, the Orange<br />
Alternative was never as interested in political ideology as<br />
buffoonery. Detained in a Łódz police station for graffiti, Major<br />
Fydrych was happy to explain the gnomes to state authorities in<br />
academic terms: “The thesis is the anti-regime slogan. The antithesis<br />
is the spot and the synthesis is the gnome.” Spoken like<br />
a true art history student. As the Orange Alternative graduated<br />
to bigger happenings, gnomes began to appear in demonstrations<br />
as well. <strong>In</strong>ternational Children’s Day on June 1, 1988, was<br />
celebrated in Wrocław by dozens of locals dressed as gnomes<br />
and smurfs, complete with red hats and handkerchiefs, while<br />
an anti-Chernobyl protest saw Major Fydrych handing out iconic<br />
peaked red gnome hats to passing pedestrians. After the fall<br />
of communism in Poland, the gnomes remained a symbol of<br />
Wrocław, repurposed by the new regime to be a tribute to the<br />
Orange Movement and playful city ambassadors.<br />
wroclaw.inyourpocket.com<br />
GNOMES<br />
The first gnome in its modern statuette form was Papa Krasnal<br />
who was placed in 2001 on the corner of ul. Świdnicka and<br />
ul. Kazimierza Wielkiego (A-4), near the subway where Orange<br />
Alternative demonstrations often took place. Commissioned<br />
by Agora (the publisher of newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza) to<br />
celebrate the history of the Orange Alternative, Papa Krasnal<br />
remains perhaps the largest of his progeny. Things really took<br />
off in 2005 when local artist Tomasz Moczek - a graduate of<br />
the Wrocław Academy of Fine Arts - created five gnomes.<br />
Commissioned by Wrocław City Council, that original quintet<br />
consisted of: Rzeźnik on ul. Jatki (A-3), Syzyfki, the two<br />
Sisyphus-inspired gnomes on ul. Świdnicka near the Post<br />
Office (B-3), Pracz Odrzański (referring to one of Wrocław’s<br />
suburbs - Pracze Odrzańskie - with a bit of wordplay around<br />
“pracz,” the Polish word for “washer”) who can be seen washing<br />
something in the Odra River near Piaskowy Bridge (C-2), and<br />
Szermierz, who sadly disappeared from the subway station<br />
under Plac Uniwersytecka (B-2). The little devils soon proved<br />
so popular that envious local businesses got in on the game<br />
contracting other artists to produce more. Some of the most<br />
popular include Życzliwek (Well-Wisher Dwarf), located on the<br />
Rynek next to the fountain (A-3), who even has his own official<br />
holiday (November 21st), blog and Facebook page; Śpioch on<br />
the back of the Jaś tenement house on ul. Św. Mikołaja (A-3);<br />
and Więziennik on the parapet of the old prison building on<br />
ul. Więzienna (B-2). Costing about 4,000zł apiece, each work<br />
has become embedded in the hearts of the locals and now has<br />
a GPS device embedded in its heart - a necessary precaution<br />
after Rzeźnik also disappeared (he has since been recovered<br />
and is back at his post on ul. Jatki).<br />
<strong>In</strong> almost no time at all gnomes have proliferated around<br />
Wrocław to the point that now we’re not even certain exactly<br />
how many there are, though the little buggers are rumoured<br />
to be running rampant to the score of nearly 180. Due to<br />
their number and range, it really isn’t possible anymore to<br />
find them all on your own (although trying to do so can be<br />
a fun alternative to regular sight-seeing). To make the work<br />
easier, head to the local tourist office at Rynek 14 (A-3),<br />
where you can pick up a map showing where the 30 most<br />
central gnomes are located. There is also a special, duallanguage<br />
(Polish and English) website dedicated to Wrocław’s<br />
gnomes - www.krasnale.pl - where you can find their history,<br />
photos and useful information including downloadable<br />
maps of their various locations around the city. Spend an<br />
afternoon as a gnome-watcher and see how many of the<br />
mischievous miscreants you can spot as you stroll around<br />
the city, and happy hunting.<br />
Marcin Wiktorski, courtesy of City Promotion Office,<br />
Muncipality of Wrocław<br />
September - December 2012<br />
73