Auschwitz Jewish Center

Every visitor to Krakow should make the hour and a half trip out to Oswiecim, the site of the tragic Auschwitz and Bireknau concentration camps. However, while today Auschwitz is most commonly associated with the terrors of the notorious death camp that was located there, before the Nazis came Jewish life flourished for 500 years in the Oswiecim area. The Auschwitz Jewish Centre shares the history and culture of the Polish Jews who lived in the area, and of their lives before the tragedy of the Second World War. The mission of the centre is to provide a place for individuals and groups from around the world to learn about the vibrancy of Jewish culture through exhibits, lectures, and educational programs and to serve as a haven where visitors to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps can memorialise Jewish victims of the Holocaust and commemorate the rich Jewish-Polish life and culture eradicated during WWII.

"inspiring place. very professional staff."

Ben
Australia
Mar.18.2008
Overall rating 4/5

"Impossible to fathom the Holocaust without understanding the culture and people lost. That a Jewish community once flourished minutes from the gas chamber sites boggles the mind. This inspiring museum and modest synagogue, shockingly right next to the camps, completes any sensitive visit to Auschwitz. Staff at the Jewish Center knowledgeable, polyglot, superb."

Daniel
Israel
Mar.17.2008
Overall rating 5/5

"very important place to visit"

Ron
Israel
Mar.08.2008
Overall rating 5/5

"The best Jewish Museum in Poland. Very accomodating and a must when you vist the camps. A very tasteful, modern and moving presentation of a destroyed Jewish community. "

Dave
United States
Jan.22.2008
Overall rating 5/5