Galicia Jewish Museum

What makes it special

Traces of Memory, the permanent exhibition, is a set of colour photographs taken across Polish Galicia by the photographer Schwarz, while his collaborator Webber searched out the sites. They looked for the traces of Jewish life still scattered through the market towns and villages of southern Poland, many off the main routes, as well as in Kraków and Tarnów.

The photographs are in colour to show these sites as part of the Poland you travel through now, not only as remnants of the past. Schwarz took about a thousand of them and founded this museum in 2004 to show the work.

The exhibition is split into five sections, so that no single picture stands for the whole story. The first four show places only, with no people in the frame. The fifth turns to the people involved with these places today.

Of the thousand, 144 are on show, set against how the same heritage looks now. Part of the last section changes every year, so a return visit shows new work.

Visiting

Simple rules apply at the door: the permanent and temporary exhibitions both need a valid ticket, and staff may ask to see inside your bag. Travel light, since coats, backpacks, suitcases and umbrellas are meant to be checked at the cloakroom; ask at the desk if it is not staffed.

Walk the sections of Traces of Memory in order. Most photographs have little text beside them, so give each one time.

Photography is allowed, with the flash off. Written and graphic signs mark the rooms with distressing content, so you can decide before you go in.

Guided or on your own

The museum offers private half-day or full-day walking tours of Kazimierz, led by licensed, English-speaking guides who specialise in Jewish history. Routes take in Szeroka Street and the old Jewish quarter around the museum. Ask the museum to book one if you want the district explained; the exhibition itself needs no guide.

Tips

An online ticket carries no date or time, so you can buy ahead and use it any day until the end of the year printed on it. Each one is good for a single entry.

Eat before you arrive, because no outside food or drink is allowed in, and smoking and e-cigarettes are banned inside. Leave the photographs and panels untouched unless a sign invites you to handle them.