If you want to see a real, functioning synagogue then definitely pay the ~3 or 4 zl (?) entrance…read moreand have a look! You get to enter the synagogue itself (which understandably seems to be under constant restoration) and the cemetery next to it which is also an experience. The outer walls are mounted with old/broken gravestones post WW2 on the inside so it looks like a mozaic which I think is very unique.

12 zloty to read about 4 or 5 Jewish families who lived in the Jewish district of Krakow before…read moreWWII, and what became of them. Also can see their photos. Not worth 12 zloty. Nor 0 zloty. Needs more content and a better display.

We visited this synagogue today (it's also known as the High Synagogue) - and although it's no…read morelonger in use as a synagogue, there's a wonderful photo exhibit on the second floor portraying what happened to six families in Krakow during the war (with some detailed/extensive and very interesting written information). Also, there's a branch of Austeria Bookstore on the first floor (see my separate review) and the selection is *superb*. A very sweet-natured young woman works there and we had a delightful conversation with her.

This morning a tour guide from the Auschwitz Jewish Center (which includes the synagogue/museum)…read moretook us on a tour of the synagogue (which was the last remaining one in the town and it comprises part of the Auschwitz Jewish Center), and he also took us to the (small) Jewish cemetery. We had arranged all of this in advance, including a private tour guide for Auschwitz & Birkenau - in addition to our driver, who picked us up at our hotel in Krakow early this morning and brought us back early this evening - via the Auschwitz Jewish Center employee at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in NYC (the AJC in NYC doesn't charge for making the arrangements, but they gratefully accept donations). She also arranged for us to have lunch after the tour, at Cafe Bergson (which is immediately adjacent to the AJC, and it's inside what was formerly the house of the last remaining Jewish resident of the town. His family donated the house to the AJC after his death, and a fundraising campaign enabled extensive renovations). Our tour guide from the AJC was a very well-informed and very enthusiastic young man (he's spending a year doing this in lieu of military service) and the cost was only 10 PLN per person (afterwards we met the director of the AJC [a very nice man] and we asked what was an appropriate amount to tip the guide [20 PLN]). We paid only 25 PLN/each for a *delicious* lunch (vegetarian sandwiches, cheesecake, mineral water and coffee). The young woman working at the café was very friendly, too.

I highly recommend visiting the Auschwitz Jewish Center Museum, especially if you are coming to…read moreOświęcim to visit the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The town of Oświęcim, and Poland as a whole, have a rich Jewish history that began long before the Holocaust which you will be introduced to if you visit the AJC. Also, check out their awesome smartphone app Oshpitzin! You can view historic photographs of buildings in Oświęcim with accompanying information and even a super cool 3D rendering of the Great Synagogue! This app is a must for anyone interested in pre-war Jewish life in Poland.

We visited the cemetery (English translation: New Jewish Cemetery) early this morning, whereby we…read morehad it all to ourselves. Much of the cemetery is in a state of disrepair (particularly in terms of toppled gravestones), although a sign indicated the City of Krakow is in the process of restoring it. The early morning sunlight, the quiet, not having encountered anyone else and the sad historical reality all contributed to a very poignant and thought-provoking atmosphere (given the nature of an [old] Jewish cemetery in Poland - and particularly the fact that many of the people buried there either survived the Holocaust or else they perished in the Holocaust).