Krakow is around an hours drive from Auschwitz.
It bore witness to the Holocaust after coming under occupation and
being turned into the capital of the Government General (GG - part
of the occupied Polish territory) ruled by the Nazi governor.
A few years of war were enough to make the whole
world of Krakow Jews suffer total and irreversible destruction.
According to Dr A. Biberstein, out of 225,000 Jews living in Krakow
before World War II, a mere 15,000 survived the Holocaust with the
help of many Poles who kept them hidden under threat of death.
Unexpected help was also offered to a considerable
number of Krakow Jews by Oskar Schindler, a German businessman.
He helped to rescue approximately 700 Jews.
The story of their survival became the subject
matter of a film made by Steven Spielberg. Schindler's List received
a number of Academy Awards.