WROCŁAW - In Your Pocket

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