For the First Time Since the Holocaust, Krakow is Getting a Rabbi

Six decades after the bulk of Krakow Jewry was murdered by the Nazis, the city’s first full-time community rabbi is set to take up his post this week, with the start of the Jewish festival of Sukkot.
At the request of Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, and in partnership with the local Jewish community, Rabbi Avraham Flaks, 38, is being dispatched to Krakow by the Jerusalem-based Shavei Israel organization (www.shavei.org), which reaches out and assists “lost Jews” seeking to return to the Jewish people.
Rabbi Flaks will serve as chief rabbi of Krakow’s Jews and as an official emissary of Shavei Israel, with his efforts focused on strengthening the Jewish community and on outreach to the unaffiliated.
“The challenge is immense, as is the responsibility,” Rabbi Flaks said, “but I look forward to working together with the community and its leadership to help keep the flame of Judaism burning brightly in Krakow, particularly among the younger generation of Polish Jews”.
An estimated 1,000 Jews are believed to live in Krakow, of whom 200 are registered members of the community. Many are people who, since the fall of Communism, have begun to uncover their Jewish roots. This includes numerous “hidden children” who were adopted by Catholic foster families during the Nazi occupation and who have only now discovered their Jewish background. As part of his work, Rabbi Flaks will try to draw them closer to their heritage.
“In a place where the Germans sought to erase all traces of Judaism, and nearly succeeded, it is gratifying to see that Jewish life still endures,” said Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund. “Many of Poland’s ‘hidden Jews’ are seeking to reconnect with the Jewish people, and we must do what we can to help them return. Six decades after the Holocaust, the best revenge is to rebuild Jewish life and to bring as many of these people back as possible,” he said.