Podgorze - The Krakow Ghetto

Podgorze is the neighborhood in Krakow that Yanek’s family calls home, even before the war. The novel begins here, prior to the Nazi occupation of Poland, and the family is sitting calmly together, giving an image of Podgorze as home. After the Nazi regime begins to impose their control, however, Podgorze morphs from home to prison, becoming the place where Yanek and his family are held captive in their own environment. It is still, however, more comforting then the camps, which represent a deterioration of all personal connection between character and setting. This is evident in the fact that, when Yanek returns to the ghetto on a work detail, he feels a certain emotional connection with the place even though it is not completely devoid of people and the life he had once known in its streets and buildings.

Plaszow Camp

Among the...