Krakow, Poland
Krakow this week got its first full-time rabbi since the Holocaust wiped out the city’s Jewish population. Rabbi Avraham Flaks, a Russian-born Israeli, said his mission is to help reinstill a knowledge and appreciation of Jewish culture. Krakow had a vibrant Jewish population of 60,000 before World War II. Only about 2,000 survived the Nazi death camps, and most survivors emigrated. The few hundred Jews now living in the city are mostly the children of people who hid their faith, posing as Catholics during the communist era. Many found out they were Jewish only after the 1989 fall of communism opened up archives.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
