Jewish Chair Memorial in the Krakow Getto. "The Empty Chairs of Krakow" - Krakow Poland - ECTV

Jewish Chair Memorial in the Krakow Getto. Moving!!! - Krakow Poland - ECTV The Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland, has been many things throughout the course of its turbulent existence. It began as a marketplace, known then under a different name; Zgody Square. It was a quiet, little market, inconsequential in the larger scale of Krakow. Goods could be bought and sold there, and people would pass through, leaving and returning as they pleased. This would all change, however. In 1939, Poland fell under Nazi Rule. This was the beginning of a painful chapter in world history, but also in the history of Zgody Square, as it would soon be marked by a large gate with the Star of David. Anti-Semitism in the Third Reich would lead to the formation of ghettoes in Poland. In these locations, Jewish Populations were to be segregated and kept apart from the wider populace; leaving was not permitted. Thus, the ghettoes were prisons of a different kind. Zgody Square found itself at the centre of one such ghetto. During this troublesome period, the Square would be many other things aside from a market. It would become a place for its new resident’s furniture to be piled up and discarded. It would become a site of humiliation and suffering. And yet, it would also become an escape from crowded tenements and cramped living conditions. In Zgody Square, the ghetto’s residents could meet and trade goods. Information could be passed, and some semblance of a community could be formed. However, all of this would soon be overshadowed, when the Square was to become an integral part in the implementation of the Final Solution in Krakow. It was in Zgody Square that selections would be made; decisions that for the residents of the ghetto meant life or death. Those selected to leave the ghetto were boarded onto trains and sent either to Płaszów, Belzec, or Auschwitz. Some would not even make it to the train; the elderly, sick and young were often executed in the streets, in their homes, or even on the square itself. An order to empty the ghetto completely would soon be given. This troubling chapter in the Square’s history is captured in Stephen Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. Most of the residents would meet their end in the gas chambers of Auschwitz Birkenau, or worked to death in the camps of Płaszów and Belzec. The square nonetheless, would be rendered painfully empty following this order. Nowadays, Zgody Square carries a new, less painful name, and at it’s centre is an artistic installation designed to memorialise the victims of the Ghetto. The installation has proven controversial due to its incomprehensible nature. No fewer than thirty-three oversized chairs scatter the square - each chair represents a thousand lives. It is hard for art, literature or history books to convey the scale of the holocaust and the human suffering that came hand in hand with it. This installation does, on first glance, seem indeed to fail in this regard. Many people walk past it, children play and sit on the chairs, and only an odd walking tour of Krakow pauses briefly to acknowledge its existence. My name is Eric Clark and I am a world traveler. I have been around the world a few times and decided to help fund my travels by sharing my videos and pictures. I have been to almost every country and would be glad to give tips and pointers. Drop me a note. = )