For seven centuries the Jews were an integral part of Krakow, building its greatness and sharing its fate. They helped to create the unique identity of this city where Bożego Ciała (Corpus Christi-transl. note) Street still intersects with Rabina Meiselsa (Rabbi Meisels-transl. note) Street, even though since the crime of the Holocaust the heritage of Jewis Krakow is disinherited heritage, a heritage without inheritors.
Just a few decades ago Manuel Rympel, one of the chroniclers of interwar Krakow, wrote: “a hundred church spires rise in Krakow above the rooftops of the houses, and not many fewer (around eighty) synagogues, prayer houses and tiny prayer rooms are nestled in side streets throughout Krakow and in the alleyways of Kazimierz”.
