"Ghetto Heroes Square" is the first publication showing the long and troubled history of one of Krakow's most important squares. Unknown archive materials, unpublished photographs and the personal impressions of people inspired and moved by the square are among the highlights of this unique book.
“Our wish was to help every person visiting the Square to understand it. To bring its tragic history and years of neglect closer. To tell the story of the architectural design and show how day to day life plays out at the Square.” – write the originators, i.e. Maja Jafiszow and Grzegorz Szydło, who have been running At the Square Gallery and Paweł Kubisztal, photographer and journalists who has been involved in various Podgorze related projects for years now. However, they add that "This book is not a set of ready made answers to the questions emerging in the minds of everybody who stands on Ghetto Heroes Square. It is merely a commentary which may tap into our sensibility, facilitate understanding and serve as a compass for our thoughts.”
The book comprises the history of the square – a 19th century site bordered by the roads leading to the salt storehouse in Zabłocie, a former horse arena for the uhlans stationed nearby, which became a market later and was finally renamed Zgoda Square after the merging of Podgorze and Krakow. This chapter deals with the most dramatic part of Ghetto Heroes Square history, which was a silent witness to the extermination of Krakow Jews. The second chapter discusses the architectural design of the remodelled square and its impact on the current face and perception of this piece of urban space.
The authors of the texts are: Anna Pióro, who manages "The Eagle Pharmacy" - a branch of Krakow History Museum, Piotr Lewicki and Kazimierz Łatak, authors of the architectural design of the current square and over a dozen people from all walks of life and different parts of the world (writers, artists and passers-by), who were asked by the originators of the book about their thoughts and impressions of the Square.
"Ghetto Heroes Square” published by vis-a-vis/etiuda, 96 pages, price 29 PLN
The book is available from 24th June 2010 in At the Square Gallery,through our website BUY NOW
and in selected Krakow bookshops.
