News Item:  Questionnaire

As you will recall, we ran a questionnaire on this site from the middle of April to the middle of June. There were 113 respondents, and a summary of their replies is shown below. We would like to thank all those who replied. There are several comments that we would like to make, and invite you - the viewer - to add your thoughts as well (by emailing the Krakow Discussion Forum).

A) Several respondents made comments showing that they need help in Krakow. Some people went to Krakow and were completely lost. They didn't know where to go, who to contact etc. Some walked around the cemeteries and found nothing. Several wanted to go to Krakow but wanted help with accommodation, translators, guides, historians, kosher food etc. In view of these requests, we are seriously considering organizing a proper trip to Krakow sometime next year, with all the 'protexia' that we can provide. I don't know how many people would come, but perhaps let us know if you are interested ...even at this early stage. We will probably include a few trips to a few neighboring towns as well.

B) There were some requests from individuals who wanted more material on our site dealing with pre-Holocaust Krakow life. Their comments included the following:

• More on Krakow's Jews' education; prewar cultural life; Jewish cultural achievements in pre-war Krakow; Jewish composers of liturgical music in prewar Krakow.
• It would be great to have a catalog of all schools synagogues, etc.
• George Alexander and some others have done a great job at responding to personal inquiries, and at picking up on themes in Krakow daily life. We need more of him, and more from others who were 'there' while we can still get some sense of daily life leaders and especially ordinary people businesses and roles relations with government through the period of living memory -- before it's gone.

In view of these comments, we need to get people to write their memoirs... SOON! If you have anything to contribute, please send us material.

C) Some respondents wanted material on the site that would encourage their children to get involved! This was rather strange to me, but I then realized that the vast majority of researchers are over the age of 40. Perhaps we can have a "children's page" where they can send us Krakow stories. For example, there are a few famous stories from Krakow that kids would probably like such as:

• "The Treasure under the Bridge" The story of the Izaak Shul
• Why Lipman Heller is buried at the back of the cemetery
• The rich miser

These stories are probably all on the web somewhere. Perhaps some kids/families could write up the stories and submit them. As with most of our site's material, the contents really depend on you, our viewers and submitters.

D) Two respondents wanted to hear more about Holocaust survivors who were hidden with gentiles or who converted. One respondent wanted to write a book about interviews with such individuals. I suspect he/she has already made contact with some of these convertees. Here again, our site will consider all submissions dealing with any aspect of Jewish Krakow.

Results of Questionnaire...