5/15 Afternoon in Podgorze

After a quick lunch, the rain seems to have stopped, so we decide to walk over to Podgorze to the Ghetto Heroes square and to visit the Apteka pod Orlem - the Pharmacy under the Eagle.

It's a short walk - through Kazimierz then over the bridge to where the ghetto once stood in war torn Cracow. Here we get a close up look at the square and its poignant memorial of empty chairs.

At the corner of the square we enter the pharmacy where Tadeusz Pankiewicz managed to continue to operate and dispense medicines for residents of the ghetto. Pankiewicz was the only Pole allowed permanent residence in the Ghetto, and through his spirit and good works, the pharmacy became not only a place for medicine, but also a meeting place of Jewish intellectuals, artists, scientists and the resistance. The museum is lovingly reconstructed (only a few period furnishings remained) and truly imparts the feeling that you are re-living that period of time.

The displays are ingenious as well. Drawers open to display relics from the period - prescription lists, syringes, tools for measuring medicines, even Nazi memorabilia. Cabinets open to reveal thick stacks of written histories or interviews with Ghetto survivors. Other drawers contain pictures of Ghetto residences.

Pankiewicz' office contains a desk, old phone and original notes from his management of the pharmacy - along with a video presentation of Pankiewicz being interviewed on the square after the war.

There are also these cool multimedia displays hung on the wall in digital frames which detail the lives and outcomes of various Ghetto families. But the most creative thing was a series of Plexiglas panels hung from the ceiling with period photos from the Ghetto. Explanations are hung from each panel, like little tails.

It is really a very well done little museum. And inexpensive - only 10zl each - which is a little more than $3US.

Unfortunately, we weren't really watching our time inside the museum, so as we go to leave in the now cold pouring rain, we realize we've missed the HoHo bus by about 3 minutes. Oh darn. So now we have to stand out in the rain (with our umbrellas, but it's blowing) for about 25 minutes to wait for the next bus. Oh well - lesson learned. We end up finding cover under the entrance to a parking garage and spend a rather uncomfortable 1/2 hour watching for our bus through the rain.

Once aboard, we're back at the Galaxy in no time and running through the rain (where I manage to lose one of my favorite pair of glasses - sigh) to the mall to get last minute supplies for our dinner in tonight.

Last night in Cracow - spent warm and dry in our neat apartment watching the rain and the wind terrorize the trees in the park behind us. Good decision to spend this night in preparing for travels in the morning.