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.