Plaszow Camp was established by Nazi German occupiers in October 1942 on the grounds of two Jewish cemeteries in Kraków. It began as a forced-labor camp for Jews from the liquidated Kraków Ghetto; from July 1943, it also held Poles in a penal-labor section. In January 1944, it was redesignated as a concentration camp and later functioned as a transit camp for Hungarian Jews being sent to Auschwitz. Over its existence, more than 35,000 people were imprisoned here, and around 6,000 were murdered. Executions took place at several sites within the camp; today, mass graves and memorials mark the landscape.
On this guided walk, your expert guide pieces together the camp from what remains: the Grey House, the ruins of the pre-burial hall, traces of the Jewish cemeteries, the roll-call square, and paths once paved with fragments of gravestones. You will reflect at major memorials, including the Monument of Torn-Out Hearts, and learn how the camp was organized into living, hospital, administrative, and industrial sections.
An essential part of Plaszow’s story is Oskar Schindler. Through his enamelware enterprise, he obtained work permits for Jewish prisoners registered through Plaszow, shielding them from further transports. Later, he organized their transfer to his wartime plant in Brünnlitz, saving over a thousand lives. His actions, remembered worldwide, are inseparable from the history told here.
Unlike sites filled with preserved buildings, Plaszow offers open ground, silence, and space for reflection. With few physical remains, it is a place of memory rather than spectacle — an intimate setting to confront history, honor the victims, and reflect.
