Dzielnica Kazimierz

The area between the walls was known as the Oppidum Judaeorum, the Jewish City, which represented only about one fifth of the geographical area of Kazimierz, but nearly half of its inhabitants. The Oppidum became the main spiritual and cultural centre of Polish Jewry, hosting many of Poland’s finest Jewish scholars, artists and craftsmen. Among its famous inhabitants were the Talmudist Moses Isserles, the Kabbalist Natan Szpiro, and the royal physician Shmuel bar Meshulam. The golden age of the Oppidum came to an end in 1782, when the Austrian Emperor Joseph II disbanded the kahal. In 1822, the walls were torn down, removing any physical reminder of the old borders between Jewish and Christian Kazimierz. Kazimierz lost its status as a separate city and became a district of Kraków. The richer Jewish families quickly moved out of the overcrowded streets of eastern Kazimierz. Jewish intellectual life had moved to new centres like Podgórze. After the Second World War, Kazimierz became a backwater area with a reputation for being ansafe at night. Many old buildings were not repaired and became empty shells. However, since 1988, a popular annual Jewish Cultural Festival has drawn Cracovians back to the heart of the Oppidium and re-introduced Jewish culture to a generation of Poles who have grown up without Poland's historic Jewish community. Since 1993, there have been parallel developments in the restoration of important historic sites in Kazimierz and a booming growth in Soho-Kazimierz - themed restaurants, bars, pubs, bookstores and souvenir shops.