The National Museum in Krakow - The Main Building

Aleja 3 Maja 1,Kraków www.muzeum.krakow.pl

About

The Main Building houses three permanent galleries of the Museum: the Gallery of 20th Century Polish Art, the Gallery of Arms and Armour, and the Gallery of Decorative Art, supplemented by an impressive collection of Judaica. A collection of Judaica was acquired by the National Museum in Krakow already before World War II, in 1935-1939. Already at that time, interest in Jewish culture, coexisting with the Polish one in the Polish lands, could be observed – the people perceived its intriguing, different character. At present, this is the most interesting collection of Judaica in Poland. It contains valuable and rare silver artefacts dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, objects related to the synagogue and home liturgy, used during religious holidays and home celebrations. a real rarity is a wooden altar cupboard, richly carved and covered with polychrome, known as Aaron-hakodesh and used for storing the Torah scrolls. Another noteworthy item is an 18th century lavabo known as a kijor, used for the ritual of pouring water on the hands. It includes regular lectures and workshops for children and teenagers which teach participants about Jewish holidays, customs, liturgy and the every-day life of Jews.