Editing Kraków (section)

=== 20th century to the present ===
[[File:Rząca Tadeusz, Rynek Główny w Krakowie.jpg|thumb|Flower vendors in [[Main Square, Kraków|Rynek]]—the first autochrome in Poland, dated 1912]]
Following the emergence of the [[Second Polish Republic]] in 1918, Kraków resumed its role as a major Polish academic and cultural centre, with the establishment of new universities such as the [[AGH University of Science and Technology]] and the [[Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts]], as well as several new and essential vocational schools. The city became an important cultural centre for [[Polish Jews]], including both [[Zionist]] and [[General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland|Bundist]] groups.<ref>{{cite web |title= Kraków after 1795 |url= http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Krakow/Krakow_after_1795 |publisher= YIVO |access-date= 13 November 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181113161327/http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Krakow/Krakow_after_1795|archive-date= 13 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="Krakow old scenes, including historical photographs"/><ref>{{Cite web|date=17 February 2021|title=Kazimierz na przedwojennych zdjęciach. "Ruch na ulicach panował niebywały"|url=https://krowoderska.pl/kazimierz-na-przedwojennych-zdjeciach-ruch-na-ulicach-panowal-niebywaly/|access-date=6 August 2021|website=Krowoderska.pl|language=pl-PL|archive-date=14 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814164403/https://krowoderska.pl/kazimierz-na-przedwojennych-zdjeciach-ruch-na-ulicach-panowal-niebywaly/|url-status=live}}</ref> Kraków was also an influential centre of Jewish spiritual life, with all its manifestations of religious observance—from [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] to [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] and [[Reform Judaism]]—flourishing side by side.<ref name="Sinnreich">{{cite book |last=Sinnreich |first=Helene J. |date=2023 |title=The Atrocity of Hunger. Starvation in the Warsaw, Lodz, and Krakow Ghettos During World War II |location=Cambridge |publisher=University Press |page=9 |isbn=978-1-009-11767-8}}</ref>

Following the [[invasion of Poland]] by [[Nazi Germany]] in September 1939, the city of Kraków became part of the [[General Government]], a separate administrative region of the Third Reich. On 26&nbsp;October 1939, the Nazi régime set up {{lang|de|[[Distrikt Krakau]]}}, one of four districts within the General Government. On the same day, the city of Kraków became the capital of the administration.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 February 2021 |title=Niemiecka okupacja w Krakowie na zdjęciach |url=https://krowoderska.pl/niemiecka-okupacja-w-krakowie-na-zdjeciach/ |access-date=24 April 2022 |website=Krowoderska.pl |language=pl-PL |archive-date=6 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206065228/https://krowoderska.pl/niemiecka-okupacja-w-krakowie-na-zdjeciach/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The General Government was ruled by Governor-General [[Hans Frank]], who was based in the city's Wawel Castle. The Nazis envisioned turning Kraków into a completely Germanised city; after removal of all Jews and Poles, renaming of locations and streets into the German language, and sponsorship of propaganda portraying the city as historically German.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tygodnik.com.pl/dodatek-ks/04/sabor.html |title=Cztery miasta w jednym – nowa historia wojennego Krakowa Niechciana "stolica" |trans-title=Four cities in one – a new history of wartime Krakow. The unwanted "capital" |language=pl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206065229/http://www.tygodnik.com.pl/dodatek-ks/04/sabor.html |archive-date=6 February 2023 |url-status=dead |first=Agnieszka |last=Sabor |work=Tygodnik Powszechny No. 4 (2794) |date=26 January 2003}}</ref> On 28&nbsp;November 1939, Frank set up {{lang|de|[[Judenräte]]}} ('Jewish Councils') to be run by Jewish citizens for the purpose of carrying out orders for the Nazis. These orders included the registration of all Jewish people living in each area, the collection of taxes, and the formation of [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced-labour]] groups. The Polish [[Home Army]] maintained a parallel underground administrative system.<ref>{{cite book |last=Williamson |first=David G. |author-link=David G. Williamson |title=The Polish Underground 1939–1947 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SSPOAwAAQBAJ |series=Campaign chronicles |date=12 April 2012 |location=Barnsley, Yorkshire |publisher=Pen and Sword |publication-date=2012 |isbn=978-1-84884-281-6 |access-date=17 July 2022 |archive-date=18 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018205548/https://books.google.com/books?id=SSPOAwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

At the outbreak of [[World War II]], some 56,000 Jews resided in Kraków—almost one-quarter of a total population of about 250,000; by November 1939, the Jewish population of the city had grown to approximately 70,000.<ref name=USHMM-Holocaust-Encyclopedia-Krakow/><ref name=USHMM-Ghettos-Encyclopedia-VolII/> According to German statistics from 1940, over 200,000 Jews lived within the entire Kraków District, comprising more than 5&nbsp;percent of the district's total population. However, these statistics probably underestimate the situation.<ref name=USHMM-Ghettos-Encyclopedia-VolII/> In November 1939, during an operation known as {{lang|de|[[Sonderaktion Krakau]]}} ('special operation Kraków'), the Germans arrested more than 180 university professors and academics, and sent them to the [[Sachsenhausen]] and [[Dachau]] [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]], though the survivors were later released on the request of prominent Italians.<ref name="16B. Eastern Europe in World War II: October 1939 – May 1945."/><ref name="sonderaktion"/>

[[File:Krakow-Ghetto-checkpoint.jpg|thumb|[[Kraków Ghetto]], 1942—a German checkpoint during {{lang|de|[[Aktion Krakau]]}}]]

Before the formation of [[ghettos]], which began in the Kraków District in December 1939, Jews were encouraged to flee the city. For those who remained, the German authorities decided in March 1941 to allocate a then-suburban neighborhood, [[Podgórze|Podgórze District]], to become Kraków's ghetto, where many Jews subsequently died of illness or starvation. Initially, most ghettos were open and Jews were allowed to enter and exit freely, but as security became tighter the ghettos were generally closed. From autumn 1941, the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] developed the policy of [[extermination through labour]],{{sfn|Longerich|2010| p=171}} which further worsened the already bleak conditions for Jews. The inhabitants of the [[Kraków Ghetto]] were later murdered or sent to German [[extermination camp]]s, including [[Belzec extermination camp|Bełżec]] and [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]], and to [[Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp]].<ref name="The-Kraków_Ghetto_1940-1943"/> The largest deportations within the Distrikt occurred from June to September 1942. More specifically, mass deportation from Kraków's ghetto occurred in the first week of June 1942,<ref name=USHMM-Ghettos-Encyclopedia-VolII/> and the ghetto was finally liquidated in March 1943.{{sfn|Longerich|2010| p=376}}

The film director [[Roman Polanski]] survived the Kraków Ghetto. [[Oskar Schindler]] selected employees from the ghetto to work in his enamelware factory {{lang|de|[[Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik]]}}, saving them from the camps.<ref name="All for Love - Google Books"/><ref name="Oskar Schindler: The Untold Account... - Google Books"/> Similarly, many men capable of physical labor were saved from deportation to extermination camps and instead sent to labor camps across the General Government.<ref name=USHMM-Ghettos-Encyclopedia-VolII/> By September 1943, the last of the Jews from the Kraków Ghetto had been deported. Although [[Looting of Poland in World War II|looted by occupational authorities]], Kraków remained relatively undamaged at the end of World War II,<ref name="LukZaw"/> with most of the city's historical and architectural legacy spared. Soviet forces under the command of Marshal [[Ivan Konev]] entered the city on 18&nbsp;January 1945 and began arresting Poles loyal to the [[Polish government-in-exile]] or those who had served in the Home Army.<ref>Gilbert, M (1989) Second World War, Weidenfeld & Nicolson P646.</ref>

[[File:Rozwój terytorialny Krakowa - EN.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Kraków's territorial growth from the late 18th to the 20th century]]

After the war, under the [[Polish People's Republic]] (officially declared in 1952), the intellectual and academic community of Kraków came under complete political control. The universities were soon deprived of their printing rights and autonomy.<ref name="autonomy"/> The [[Stalinist]] government of Poland ordered the construction of the country's largest [[steel mill]] in the newly created suburb of [[Nowa Huta]].<ref name="krakow_history"/> The creation of the giant Lenin Steelworks (now [[Tadeusz Sendzimir Steelworks|Sendzimir Steelworks]] owned by [[Mittal Steel Company|Mittal]]) sealed Kraków's transformation from a university city into an industrial centre.<ref name="communist era"/>

In an effort that spanned two decades, [[Karol Wojtyła]], the cardinal archbishop of Kraków from 1964 to 1978, successfully lobbied for permission to build the first churches in the newly industrialized suburbs.<ref name="communist era"/><ref name="NH-anthology"/> In 1978, the Catholic Church elevated Wojtyła to the [[papacy]] as [[John Paul II]], the first non-Italian pope in over 450 years. In the same year, [[UNESCO]], following the application of local authorities, placed Kraków Old Town on the first list of [[World Heritage Site]]s.<ref name="Woodward">{{cite book |first1=Simon C. |last1=Woodward |first2=Louise |last2=Cooke |date=2022 |title=World Heritage. Concepts, Management and Conservation |location=London |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-77729-1}}</ref>