Ghetto Wall Fragments in Krakow: location and history

Fragments of the wall that enclosed part of the ghetto set up by the German occupation authorities in Krakow survive in Podgórze. According to the Institute of National Remembrance, only two fragments of the ghetto wall have survived to this day. The one we point visitors to stands on ul. Lwowska, between the buildings at numbers 25-29.

History of the Krakow ghetto wall

This is a place of remembrance of the Holocaust. The ghetto in Podgórze was set up by the German occupation authorities in March 1941; the order establishing a "Jewish residential district" was issued on 3 March 1941. According to the Institute of National Remembrance, the ghetto covered about 20 hectares and 320 houses: the Germans crowded between 11,000 and 20,000 Jews into an area where about 3,000 people had lived before the war. In June and on 28 October 1942 the Germans deported residents of the ghetto to the German extermination camp in Bełżec. The Germans liquidated the ghetto on 13 and 14 March 1943: they took people they judged fit for work to the German camp in Płaszów (KL Plaszow), deported the others to the German Nazi camp Auschwitz-Birkenau and murdered some on the spot.

When the Germans sealed off the ghetto, its boundary was marked by a barbed-wire fence; building of the wall began in April 1941. According to the Institute of National Remembrance, the wall did not surround the whole ghetto: most of the boundary was formed by the buildings themselves, with doors bricked up or boarded over and windows barred, and the wall stood mostly on the southern side. Four gates led into the ghetto, and gate number 2 stood at the junction of ul. Lwowska and ul. Limanowskiego. The Germans led the people they deported from the ghetto along ul. Lwowska. Demolition of the walls began a few months after the Germans liquidated the ghetto.

What to see at the ghetto wall on Lwowska Street

• The fragment on ul. Lwowska: it stands by the street, between the buildings at numbers 25-29.
• The memorial plaque: a bilingual plaque on the Lwowska fragment. The Polish inscription reads (in translation): "Here they lived, suffered and died at the hands of the Nazi executioners. From here their last road led to the extermination camps. Fragment of the walls of the Jewish ghetto 1941-1943".
• The shape of the wall: according to the Institute of National Remembrance, the shape of the wall symbolised matzevot, that is Jewish gravestones; the wall was plastered only on the outer side.
• A witness's words: Józef Bau, a Krakow-born poet, painter and graphic artist, wrote: "A high, fortified wall hid from the eyes of the world the suffering that was devouring the Jews, together with their property."
• The anniversary: on the anniversary of the liquidation of the ghetto (13 and 14 March) flowers are laid at the fragment on ul. Lwowska, and the Remembrance March from Heroes of the Ghetto Square passes by. Check the date for the year of your visit.

Can you visit the Krakow ghetto wall fragments?

No institution publishes opening hours or visiting rules for this place. The fragment on ul. Lwowska stands by the street, between buildings. The second fragment stands at ul. Limanowskiego 60-62, behind the school there (XLIII Liceum Ogólnokształcące); we have no confirmation that it is accessible to visitors, so the fragment on ul. Lwowska is the one we name as a place to visit.

We do not offer guiding here and cannot arrange entry to the school grounds. Details checked in October 2026. The history of the wall given here follows the Institute of National Remembrance article on how the Germans set up the ghetto in Krakow (in Polish).

How to get to the ghetto wall on Lwowska Street

The fragment on ul. Lwowska is about five minutes on foot from Heroes of the Ghetto Square and about eight minutes from Schindler's Factory Museum. The former ghetto in Podgórze is on the route of our Krakow Ghetto tour and our Memory Trail tour by electric cart.

What else to see near the Krakow ghetto wall

Please behave as befits a place of remembrance. The Eagle Pharmacy, a branch of the Museum of Krakow in the former ghetto, on Heroes of the Ghetto Square, is also about five minutes on foot from the Lwowska fragment. For the wider district, see our page on Podgórze and the former ghetto.

Frequently asked questions

Where are the ghetto wall fragments in Krakow?

In Podgórze. One stands on ul. Lwowska, between the buildings at numbers 25-29. The second stands behind the school at ul. Limanowskiego 60-62.

How many fragments of the ghetto wall survive?

According to the Institute of National Remembrance, only two fragments of the ghetto wall have survived to this day.

Can you visit the fragment behind the school?

We have no confirmation that it is accessible to visitors, so the fragment on ul. Lwowska is the one we name as a place to visit.

When was the ghetto wall built?

Building began in April 1941. When the Germans sealed off the ghetto, its boundary was marked by a barbed-wire fence.

Did the wall surround the whole ghetto?

No. According to the Institute of National Remembrance, most of the boundary was formed by the buildings themselves, and the wall stood mostly on the southern side.

Photo: miketnorton, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.