About this talk

By the end of the 1930s, the Jewish community of Krakow constituted about 25% of the city's population. Just like everyone else, Jewish Cracovians had their hopes, dreams, ideas, and plans for the future. All of those dreams were crushed by the war and the occupation. The streets of the former Krakow ghetto bear witness to the desperate struggle for survival and the destruction of this city's Jewish community.

Join us on this virtual tour to discover the most devastating period of Krakow's Jewish history. You'll stroll around the former Jewish Ghetto area and explore the events that resulted in the liquidation of what was once a large and vibrant Jewish population. 

You'll see the places depicted in Steven Spielberg's award-winning movie "Schindler's List", and you will also learn about the revival of Jewish life after the war and the fall of Communism. Since 1988, a popular annual Jewish Cultural Festival has re-introduced Jewish culture and currently, Krakow is experiencing a rebirth of Jewish life as the local Jewish community grows. Young people are finding out about their Jewish roots, there's a thriving JCC, and a Jewish preschool has recently opened in the city.

About Olga

An Odessa local, Olga Bokhonovskaya has spent lots of time living abroad. She's earned her MBA in the US and formerly has been employed in the field of international marketing in California, London Moscow. She switched to the tourism industry in 2011 and founded Odessa Walks tour agency back in her hometown Odessa. Because of the pandemic, she created live-stream virtual programs starting in 2020 that share her hometown's beauty and rich history with people from around the world.

In September 2022 Olga moved to Berlin and Krakow because of the war in Ukraine. While she continues giving virtual tours of Odessa, she now creates live, virtual and in-person cultural and historic tours of Berlin, Krakow and other destinations in Central and Eastern Europe.