Kraków Ghetto
| Kraków Ghetto | |
|---|---|
Jews forced to shovel snow in the street, circa 1940 | |
German Map of Jewish Ghetto in Krakow, April 1941. The preserved fragments of the ghetto wall is marked. |
| Designations | |
|---|---|
| Designated | 1994-09-08 |
| Part of | Kraków historical city complex |
| Reference no. | M.P. 1994 nr 50 poz. 418 |
The Kraków Ghetto official name: Jewish Residential District in Krakow (German: Der jüdische Wohnbezirk in Krakau) was one of five major metropolitan Nazi ghettos created by Germany in the new General Government territory during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. It was established for the purpose of exploitation, terror, and persecution of local Polish Jews. The ghetto was later used as a staging area for separating the "able workers" from those to be deported to extermination camps in Operation Reinhard. The ghetto was liquidated between June 1942 and March 1943, with most of its inhabitants deported to the Belzec extermination camp as well as to Płaszów slave-labor camp, and Auschwitz concentration camp, 60 kilometres (37 mi) rail distance.