The oldest part of the district once inhabited by Jews is framed by Żydowska(Jewish) and Wekslarska(Draft or Note) street. The houses there, residing in the 17th and 18th century, are the most typical examples of Jewish building with its narrow hallways, tiny courtyards and narrow front walls. It is still possible to observe marks after mezuzahs( a scroll of parchment containing two parts of Tora)in the frames of their doors. Some of the store windows still preserve iron shutters.

Next to Żydowska street there is located Bimah-the remnants of the old Synagogue,a podium from which Tora was read. Since 1996 concerts and artist performances are oraganized there to honour The Days of Remembrance for Galician Jews. The Old Town witnessed a mass slaughter of the local Jews during German occupation.One of the corner tenement houses of Żydowska street carries a plaque commemorating the liquidation of the local Jewish ghetto. In the District Museum, located in the northern frontage of the City Square in one of the tenement houses, tourists can admire an interesting collection of Jewish art among which the original privilege act coming from 1667, three Tora scrolls and records from the last Tarnow’s synagogue.

North leading Goldhammera street took its name after dr Eliasz Goldhammer to honour him as a vice-mayor of Tarnów. The decision concerning the denomination of this street was a precedent in the Poland of the beginnings of the 20th century as doctor Goldhammer was of Jewish origin. The tenement houses once belonging to Tarnów’s elite are placed on both sides of the street.

The house marked with number 1 served as a house of prayer till 1993, whereas number 3 was the most luxurious hotel in Tarnów and was owned by Herman Soldinger.

Building number 5 acted as the premises of the old Jewish Credit Society with president Herman Merz. In the entrance there are two commemorative plaques devoted to honour of Merz and Goldhammer. The façade of the building number 6 is covered with inscriptions both in Yiddish and Polish language advertising some dishes from the menu of that time.

Steam semolina mill, established by Henryk Szancer in 1859 had an immense influence on modernization of mill trade in Galicia through increasing its efficiency considerably in short time. Acting as a trading partnership Szancer and Freund launched another steam mill in Tarnów in 1865. In the 80’s of the 19th century that mill paid taxes eight times as high as other mills of Prussian Upper Silesia did. This fact indicates the immensity of enterprise of Tarnów’s traders.

A Jewish ritual bathhouse-Mikvah was erected in 1904 in Mauretanian style. It became infamous for having been the site for the first transport of Jews to Auschwitz.

Jewish cemetery, founded in 1581 is one of the oldest and most interesting cemeteries in southern Poland. Over four thousand graves can be found there. It was devastated by the Nazis during WWII, what is more, it was the place of mass slaughter of Jews from Tarnów’s ghetto committed from June 1942 to September 1943. After the war, in 1946,Dawid Beker, a Jewish sculptor, erected there a monument-a broken column coming from the ruins of the New Synagogue in Tarnów-and engraved such inscription in Hebrew: “And the sun shone and was not ashamed…”

The places of Tarnów region used to be strongly developed centers of Jewish culture. Small towns lacking in large-scale industry were one of the centres of Hassidism in Poland. Jewish sejmiki from Małopolska area took place in Dąbrowa Tarnowska and thus it is the place many eminent tzadiks came from. Dawid Unger, the founder of the famous Unger dynasty as well as Cwi Hirszem Rymanower, later Rymanów’s tzadik, came from Dąbrowa Tarnowska, one of the most significant centres of Hassidism. Nowadays, the most observable marks of Jewish splendour in Dąbrowa include: synagogue (with ornamented façade, arched windows and polychromy inside, now it is ruined), small Jewish Museum(arranged inside the prayer room used till 1996) as well as small graveyard.

Bobowa can be described as another meaningful centre of Hassidism and is well-known among orthodox Jews. This tiny village is mainly associated with the manufacture of block lace. The Jews from Bobowa relocated their seat to New York and are considered to be the largest and most active Hassidism group in the world. Rabbi Asche Scharf’s funds made it possible to open a restored synagogue there in 2003. It houses an exhibition room containing judaicas and a museum with lace workshops. Especially noteworthy is the frame of aron hakodesh coming from 1778 which is believed to be one of the most precious ones in Poland. Staying in Bobowa, it is worth recommending to visit the cemetery where the leaders of local Jews are buried.

Apart from Bobowa, Żabno once played an important role in Hassidism movement. The most famous Żabno’s leader was Shalom Dawid Unger, Dawid Unger from Dąbrowa’s son, the author of religius works. The cemetery restored in 1992 with well preserved tombstones is the only mark of the presence of Jews in this town.

In Bochnia tourists can visit S.Fisher’s museum displaying judaicas. Moreover, a synagogue that has since been adapted to banking is worth seeing together with a well preserved cemetery. Nearby Brzesko is known as the birthplace of Mordechai Dawid Brandtstaetter, grandfather of a famous Polish writer Roman Brandtstaetter. Among the few preserved relics of the past especially worth mentioning are synagogue-cahal house complex, former synagogue and a bath, nowadays serving for cultural purposes. A well-kept cemetery embracing several hundred macebas, ohels and gravestones can also be visited.

Graveyards and places symbolizing the martyrdom of Jews are the most observable tracks of the presence of this nation in the region. Jewish cemeteries can be found in many places, sometimes they are neglected and forgotten(Szczucin, Dębica), sometimes are untypical(for instance the military cemetery in Zakliczyn).

In the places of the mass slaughter of Jews committed by the Nazis during WWII there are symbolic monuments. In the Buczyna wood in Zbylitowska Góra we can see the monument commemorating the murder of approximately 600 Tarnów Jews. The mass graves hide ca. 10 000 victims including 800 children and 2000 Poles.

In order to know the Jewish culture of our region we need be familiar with the past. The first Jewish settlers came during the Middle Ages. First records concerning their presence reside in 1445. From the beginning they took up trade, at first in grain and wine imported from Hungary and Ruthenia. Their enterprise was soon noticed by Tarnów’s stewards. In 1581 Konstanty Ostrogski, owner of the city, chartered the right enabling Jews to trade in houses, stalls and market. They were also entitled to produce vodka and to cater for guests. On the strength of this decision Jews became independent of the jurisdiction of municipal authorities and were embraced by castle court’s legislation. The decision of Ostrogski also imposed severe punishment on those who dared to desecrate synagogue or Jewish cemetery. Jews were also given the right to inhabit 12 houses in Żydowska street. Such favourable conditions had a positive impact on the increase of Jewish residents around Tarnów as the possibility of dwelling within the city walls was restricted. The situation changed at the beginnings of the 18th century when prince Sanguszko allowed more Jews to settle within the city walls. A significant part of them constituted the intellectual and cultural elite of Tanów as lawyers, physicians, musicians, teachers, and industrialists. In the 18th century the Synagogue paid half of the taxes imposed on the town, irrespectively of individual payments.

The city was once an important center of religious life, maintaining a few synagogues and a dozen small prayer houses known as shtibl and kloyz. There were Jewish schools, presses, cultural and social organizations, and a rich social life. Today, there are so few Jews in our region that it would be impossible even to have minjan; an assembly of 10 adult male Jews (over 13), essential to say public prayers in a synagogue.

However, there were left many marks showing their age-old presence in this area such as cemeteries(some of them forgotten and devastated, other well-kept), archives, synagogues, schools, baths and original Jewish architecture, which can be found in the whole region. Many a building is used nowadays often for other purpose than originally. There are also plenty of places connected with the persecution of Jews and Holocaust. Museums own rich collection of judaics and the most interesting of them are District Museum in Tarnów and museums in Dąbrowa Tarnowska and Bochnia.