The Eagle Pharmacy (Apteka Pod Orłem) at Plac Bohaterów Getta 18 was the only pharmacy inside the Krakow Ghetto, and its owner, Tadeusz Pankiewicz, was the only Pole permitted to live within the ghetto walls. From March 1941 to March 1943 he and his staff used the pharmacy to help the ghetto's imprisoned residents. Today the restored interior is a small museum of remembrance, a branch of the Museum of Krakow, standing on the square where deportations took place.
What it is
The museum recreates the wartime pharmacy: the counter, the shelves of jars, the back rooms where people met, hid and exchanged news. Drawers and cabinets open to reveal documents, photographs and testimonies, so the small space repays slow exploration. Through the windows you look out on Ghetto Heroes Square and its memorial of 70 empty chairs, which places the pharmacy's story in its exact setting.
History in brief
Józef Pankiewicz opened the pharmacy in 1910, when Podgórze was a working-class town. His son Tadeusz was running it in March 1941, when the Nazi German occupiers enclosed the surrounding streets as the Krakow Ghetto, forcing more than 15,000 Jews into an area that had housed about 3,000 people. Pankiewicz declined the chance to relocate and kept the pharmacy open through the ghetto's entire existence. He and his three staff supplied medicines, often free of charge, provided sedatives for children who had to stay silent during roundups and hair dye for those trying to alter their appearance, passed information, and offered a place of relative safety. From the pharmacy windows he witnessed the deportations of 1942 and the liquidation of the ghetto in March 1943, and he later recorded what he saw in his memoir, The Cracow Ghetto Pharmacy. In 1983 Yad Vashem honored him as Righteous Among the Nations.
What to see
- The reconstructed pharmacy rooms: fitted out as in the war years, from the sales room to the laboratory and duty room.
- Interactive drawers and cabinets: opening them reveals photographs, documents and personal stories of the ghetto's residents.
- Pankiewicz's account: excerpts from his memoir and testimonies that describe daily life and death in the ghetto with documentary precision.
- The view of the square: the windows frame Ghetto Heroes Square, linking the exhibits directly to the place where the events occurred.
Practical information
This is a compact museum; most visitors spend 30 to 60 minutes inside. Admission is modest, and the site typically closes one day a week, so check current hours and prices on the Museum of Krakow website before you visit. The pharmacy itself continued to operate after the war until 1967, and the building's later conversion into a place of remembrance preserved its original character. Exhibits are captioned in Polish and English.
Getting there
Trams from the city centre and Kazimierz stop at Plac Bohaterów Getta, directly by the museum; on foot from Kazimierz, cross the Father Bernatek footbridge and continue five minutes south. Combine the pharmacy with the ghetto wall fragments on Lwowska and Limanowskiego streets, described on our Podgórze ghetto district page, and with the Schindler's Factory Museum ten minutes away. Our Krakow Ghetto tour visits these sites by electric cart with commentary.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Tadeusz Pankiewicz?
A Polish pharmacist who ran the Eagle Pharmacy inside the Krakow Ghetto from 1941 to 1943, helping its residents with medicines, information and shelter. Yad Vashem recognized him as Righteous Among the Nations in 1983.
Why was the pharmacy important?
It was the only pharmacy inside the ghetto and one of the few places where Jewish residents could find practical help, medicines and news. Its back rooms served as a meeting point throughout the ghetto's existence.
How long does a visit take?
About 30 to 60 minutes. The museum is small, but the drawers, documents and testimonies reward unhurried attention.
Is the Eagle Pharmacy suitable for children?
The exhibition is quiet and text-based rather than graphic, but its subject is the Holocaust. It works best for teenagers and older children who can engage with the history.
What else is nearby?
The 70 empty chairs memorial is directly outside on Ghetto Heroes Square, the ghetto wall fragments on Lwowska and Limanowskiego streets are a short walk away, and Schindler's Factory Museum is about ten minutes east in Zabłocie.
Other places worth seeing
Ready to explore?
Book a tour, hop on an electric cart, or arrange a private transfer.