Historic Architecture Losses in Kraków during the Second World War (1939–1945)

Abstract

The loss of historic architecture was one of the most painful material losses (irreversible too, since historical value cannot be restored by way of reconstruction) suffered by Polish society during the Second World War. Research to date has tended to focus on cities and areas that suffered the most damage, sidestepping cases like Kraków. Although it is true that the scale of destruction or damage to historical monuments was quite limited in Kraków as compared to, say, Warsaw or Poznań (as far as the territories of the Second Polish Republic which remained within the postwar borders are concerned), the former cannot be said to have remained fully intact. The purpose of this article is to fill gaps in research on the history of the Polish lands during the Second World War. The analysis of losses carried out herein is divided into three periods: the September Campaign, the occupation, and the armed operations at the beginning of 1945. The present paper is the first monograph on this subject.