Krakow virtual tour

Today I attended a great virtual tour of Krakow Poland with Olga from World Virtual Tours (supported entirely by donations). 

With roots back to the Stone Age, today the city's Old Town has been lovingly restored. The city's Wawel Royal Castle was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status. 

After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany at the start of World War II, Krakow became the capital of Germany's General Government. The Jewish population was forced into a walled zone (the Kraków Ghetto) from where many were sent to the nearby Auschwitz extermination camp. If there was any good from this time it is that the city was spared from destruction and major bombing.

These are all high quality Creative Commons images from Wikipedia, so click to enlarge them for exceptional detail.

Wawel Castle (left) and Wawel Cathedral (right)

Kanonicza Street, at the foot of the Wawel Castle

Depiction of Krakow in the 16th century

Paradise Bliss (Jan de Kempeneer's workshop, ca. 1550), one of the Jagiellonian tapestries

The Jagiellonian tapestries, woven in the Netherlands and Flanders, originally consisted of 365 pieces assembled by the Jagiellons to decorate the interiors of Wawel Castle. 

The citizens of Krakow saved the Jagiellonian tapestries during World War II by sending them to Canada

Resources:

Krakow map - a great detailed map that you can zoom in and out of

Evacuation of Polish National Treasures during World War II 

Woodcut of Krakow - from the Nuremberg Chronicle

Review: The Girl from Krakow

The Girl from Krakow by Alex Rosenberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just finished this book, listening on Audible, and can definitely recommend it.

Only towards the end of the book I started wondering about the book's title, because she wasn't actually from Krakow. Poland, yes, but not Krakow. Thanks to Alex Rosenberg's unexpected storyline, I was satisfied to understand by the end.

What an engaging story, and a character so well developed, I was sure she was real. World War II from the perspective of a Jewish woman who survived, in the open, in a disguise of her own creation, was remarkable. An interesting book on so many levels, with stories from Barcelona to Moscow built in. The loves and losses of Rita were brought to life through Michael Page's excellent narration.

Alex Rosenberg - the author's website

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