The Nazi flag is raised over the Krakow castle. Krakow, Poland,
1939. Library of Congress; Unknown or unpublished JEWISH
POPULATION OF KRAKOW Founded before the end of the first
millennium, the city of Krakow (Cracow), located today in
southern Poland, served as the seat of the Piast Dynasty and
eventually as the capital of the Polish Kingdom until the early
17th century. After the third partition of Poland in 1795,
Krakow became the seat of Galicia province in the Austrian
Empire. In 1918, with the reestablishment of the Polish state,
Krakow became and remains one of its most important cities. The
first recorded presence of Jews residing in Krakow dates from
the early 13th century. 55,515 Krakow residents identified
themselves as Jews in the Polish census of 1931; on the eve of
the war some 56,000 Jews resided in Krakow, almost one-quarter
of a total population of about 250,000. By November 1939, the
Jewish population of Krakow had grown to approximately 70,000.
This increase reflected the concentration of J