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Kazimierz is a ten-minute walk south of the Wawel (alternatively take tram #3, #9, #11 or #13) along ul. Stradomska and its continuation, ul. Krakowska, which formerly separated the ghetto from the rest of the city. The obvious route into the ghetto is along ulica Jozefa , so named following Emperor Joseph II's visit to the area during his tour of the regions of Poland annexed by the Habsburgs following the First Partition (1772). Walking along Jozefa towards the heart of the ghetto proper, you pass no. 11, the former parish school of the nearby Bozego Ciala (Corpus Christi) church, whose students used to supplement the school income by extorting a transit fee from Jews travelling into the city centre. Here, as elsewhere in the area, wandering into the often dilapidated courtyards leading off the main street gives you a feeling of the atmosphere of the vanished ghetto. A memorable example of this is the courtyard linking Jozefa with ul. Meiselsa, used by Spielberg for the scenes depicting the expulsion of Jews from the ghetto in Schindler's List , the whitewashed walls, cobblestones and arcaded wooden attics lending a Mediterranean aura to the place. Continuing along Jozefa, turn left into ul. Kupa and you'll find the Synagoga Izaaka (Isaac Synagogue; Mon-Fri & Sun 9am-7pm, closed on Jewish holidays; 6zl), a graceful Baroque structure named after the wealthy local merchant, Isaac Jakubowicz (in Yiddish, reb Ajzyk) who financed its construction in the 1630s. Getting the building started proved more of a handful than the merchant anticipated: despite securing permission directly from King Wladyslaw IV, Jakubowicz's plans were forcefully opposed by the parish priest of Corpus Christi, who wrote to the bishop of Krakow protesting that it would result in priests carrying the sacraments having to pass in front of, and thus presumably be contaminated by, a synagogue. Thankfully the bishop proved rather more enlightened than his ecclesiastical inferior, and building went ahead. Like all the Kazimierz synagogues, Ajzyk's was looted and destroyed by the Nazis, the surviving hull of the building being partially restored in the 1950s when it was turned into an artist's workshop. A more thorough renovation, started in the mid-1980s, is now functionally complete. Set back from the street behind a walled gate, the relatively modest and sedate exterior focuses around a raised twin staircase leading up to the main entrance. Notable features of the synagogue interior are the fabulous stuccoed ceiling decoration , probably from the workshop of Giovanni Falconi, and the reconstructed Aron Ha Kodesh. That said, overall the building retains a somewhat disembodied, empty feeling - more funds are obviously needed to complete the restoration. One source of revenue at least is provided by the short film, shown at regular intervals throughout the day, of local Jewish life shot by the BBC in 1936 along with scenes from the wartime dismantling of the ghetto. Next door to the synagogue there's a new Jewish Educational Youth Club (tel 012/429 3657) which welcomes everyone to its Sabbath celebrations. Continuing along ul. Jozefa, the intersection with ul. Jakuba marks the spot where the guarded main gateway to the ghetto stood for centuries. Immediately beyond, at no. 38, is the buttressed Wysoka (High) Synagogue , built in the late 1550s, and so named because the synagogue was located on the first floor of the building, the ground floor being occupied by shops, replaced today by storerooms. Devastated by the Nazis, the building was renovated in the 1960s and turned into a conservation workshop, a function it still retains. Despite talk of the Jewish community reclaiming use of the building, there's little sign of restoration work on it beginning yet, lack of funds being as usual the main obstacle. The entrance to the building is from a staircase next door (no. 40). Inside the synagogue (the place is generally closed, access being totally dependent on someone being around to let you in), there's precious little of the original decoration left - the sumptuous stuccoed Renaissance vaulting of the building was completely destroyed by the Nazis - the Aron Ha Kodesh still there in the wall near the entrance being one of the very few exceptions.
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