Dom Slaski, museum on Pomorska Street #2 - Gestapo prison cells

I attempted to write this entry earlier today, but in trying to correct a mistake I erased the whole thing. Well, actually there is more to add now so no regrets.

The museum at #2 Pomorska Street contains 4 former Gestapo cells and a main exhibit in a separate entrance nearby. The outside of the building looks like this. It is called Dom Slaski (Silesian House).

Right near this building at #3 & 4 Plac Inwalidow was the Communist's office of security from 1945-1956. They were fighting the anti communist opposition. Before that it was the living quarters for Jagiellonian University professors. 

In the basement of #2 Pomorska street are 4 former Gestapo prison cells. There is one cell devoted to explaining what happened there. In the other cells there was lots of graffiti on the walls from WWII prisoners.  Some of the signs in the cells talked about specific prisoners and pointed out their graffiti in the cell. Many of the prisoners were Polish, but not all. Some of the writing was faint. Some was really clear. These prison cells were used for interrogation and short stays. Usually the prisoner was interrogated, possibly beaten and put in a cell for a short while. Then he was sent on to another prison or labor camp. Here is one example of graffiti. This stood out to me as there was music notated on the wall. I asked the museum guard what song it was, but she did not know. Above the music was written "I too was here...". Below the music is a picture of a hammer. I am not sure if someone is holding it. Hard to tell. From the date I can only read Sept. 19.

Another interesting graffiti is easy to read.

This says "Maryla! I won't see you anymore. I am dying with your name and Poland's on my lips. Be brave. God will look after me. Witold Maskalik. Cracow, December 8, 1944 at 1 pm."

There is a main exhibit in the entrance next door. It covers the people of Cracow in times of terror. Here is the sign.

There were a few things that stood out to me at the exhibit. I learned that there were other prisons in Cracow during WWII and later. I will touch on these later in this blog entry. Several times there were rigged "trials". One was the Cracow trial of 1947 vs. the pro-independence underground. This took place at one of the prisons. Then there was the trial of the Catholic Church in 1953 by the Communists. Priests were accused of espionage for the Vatican and the US. They were sentenced to death or life in prison. 

There was a video center where you could choose a particular story to watch. I listened to a lady talk about trying to help a family friend find their 19 year old son. He was in prison somewhere, accused by the Nazis of subversive activity. This was during WWII. The lady went to find him at the prison on Pomorska Street. The guards were no help. They told her to leave her request (with her name and address I bet) there at the prison. She did not want to leave any information. She tried this several times, saying she had a parcel to give him. No success. The young man's family figured out that he was probably sent to another prison on Montelupich Street. They waited til the end of the war. Still no news from him after several years. They figured he was killed sometime somewhere. Such a sad story. This was a recounting of the story by the lady who was trying to find him.

I also learned a little bit about Silesia, the western part of Poland. When Poland was divided and ruled by others, it was a part of Germany. In 1918 when Poland became a country again, the Silesians were supposed to vote about their future. Did they want to become part of Germany or Poland or be an independent country? There were uprisings and many conflicts. The Silesian House in Cracow was supporting Silesia to become part of Poland. Eventually it did. The most famous city nowadays is Wroclaw (formerly Breslau in German times).

There were other prisons in Cracow besides the one on Pomorska street. Today I went to #3 Senacka street to look at the former St. Michael's prison. There was a sign on the wall indicating that the Cracow trial of 1947 took place there. The building now houses several museums including the Archeology museum. Here it is.

Here is the sign saying that the trial was there and that these people died as a result of the verdict.

I decided to go find another prison on #7 Montelupich street. I had read about it at the museum. I asked the museum guard at Pomorska street musem if it still existed and where it was. She said it is there and is still a prison. I asked where. It is in the Nowy Kleparz area of Cracow. I walked along Dluga street and turned on Slowackiego street and it was not far away.  I was surprised to find it in the middle of a residential and business area. It is very close to the Polytechnic and across the street from the Kleparz Fort. It almost looked like an abandoned building. There were 2 observation towers, walls, barbed wire and commemorative plaques. The windows facing the street were all covered up, whereas the windows facing a bare courtyard were open with bars over them. I would think it would be creepy for the current prisoners to be in the same prison as so many who suffered there during the war and the Communist time.

Here are photos of the plaques. Many people died here during WWII and the Communist era. So many names and so young (age is written after name)! There were surely more who died here. I heard thousands.

I would suggest if you want to go take a look, do it from a distance and no photography. It is a creepy place anyway.