Ghetto Heroes Square
Trail of War
Formerly the Small Market Square, part of the Kraków Ghetto in 1941-1943. Jewish residents were gathered here before deportation to the camps. Today the square commemorates the victims with an installation of empty chairs.
History
The square was once called the Little Market Square, and from 1917 to 1948 Concord Square (plac Zgody). In March 1941 it became the central point of the Kraków ghetto. All its non-Jewish residents were moved out, except for the pharmacist Tadeusz Pankiewicz. People were gathered on the square before deportation, and looted property was loaded onto lorries here. During the first selection, on 4 June 1942, at least 111 people were shot; the last took place on 13 March 1943, when the ghetto was liquidated. In 2005 the square was redesigned and a memorial of 70 chairs, designed by Piotr Lewicki and Kazimierz Łatak, was unveiled. It was inspired by Pankiewicz's account, which recalled the furniture carried out of homes onto the square after the ghetto was emptied. The memorial received a commendation in the European Prize for Urban Public Space.
Did you know?
Twenty-eight of the chairs on the square face the Eagle Pharmacy (Apteka Pod Orłem), in eight irregular rows perpendicular to Na Zjeździe Street. The rest stand at the tram and bus stops on that street.