Visiting the Eagle pharmacy (Apteka pod Orłem), former pharmacy of the Krakow ghetto

It's known in turn as the "Eagle Pharmacy," the Krakow ghetto pharmacy, or by its Polish name, "Apteka pod Orłem." This small pharmacy, located on Ghetto Heroes Square in Podgórze, played a key role during World War II and has since been turned into a museum and memorial.

By visiting today, you step both into the history of the Krakow ghetto and into the intimate, everyday life of a pharmacist who chose to help, to resist, and to stay. The museum is modest in size but dense in what it conveys: shattered lives, acts of solidarity, and a reconstruction of a period pharmacy where you can open the drawers and pick up the phone to listen to testimonies.

In this article, I offer a complete guide to help you understand the history of the ghetto pharmacy, prepare your visit, and connect this site with the city's other memorial places.

The Krakow ghetto pharmacy, at the heart of history

The Krakow ghetto pharmacy tells from the inside the story of the creation of the Podgórze ghetto, the daily life of its residents, and the quiet courage of the pharmacist Tadeusz Pankiewicz and his team.

The origins of Apteka pod Orlem in Podgorze

Let's go back in time a little. It is 1933. While the Nazis are coming to power in Germany, a young Polish man in Krakow is taking over the pharmacy his father had founded 23 years earlier: Apteka Pod Orlem, or the Eagle Pharmacy. The young pharmacist, Tadeusz Pankiewicz, is based in the Podgorze district, where Jews and non-Jewish Poles live side by side in a fairly ordinary mix of neighborhood shops, modest housing, and everyday local life.

In 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland and quickly imposed their restrictions on the population. Everything happened extremely fast: in the very month of the invasion, Jews were forced to identify themselves so they could be assigned to forced labor. Two months later, Jews over the age of 12 were compelled to wear an armband identifying them as such, making visible in the street a segregation that was gradually taking hold in every aspect of daily life.

The Nazi Hans Frank set up his headquarters at the Wawel Castle and quickly set himself the goal of making Krakow a model of racial purity, in the Nazi sense of the term. This meant that he had to get rid of as many Jews as possible, bearing in mind that around 70,000 of them were still living in Krakow at that time, spread throughout the city and not only in the Jewish quarter.

An initial "voluntary departures" program was launched in 1940, but only 23,000 people took part in it. Not enough for Hans Frank, who then began organizing expulsions. Access to the city of Krakow was now closed to Jews unless they held a special permit that had to be renewed every month. More and more families were expelled, forced to abandon everything, with just 25 kg (about 55 lb) of luggage—carefully weighed and strictly limited—as their only memento of their former life.

The creation of the Krakow ghetto in Podgorze

The situation deteriorated until only 15,000 Jews remained there, most of them workers and their families. In March 1941, they were confined within an extremely limited perimeter, the Krakow ghetto, an operation officially justified by the supposed need to maintain public order and protect public "health." In line with Nazi logic, this ghetto was not created in the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz but next to it, in the Podgorze district on the southern bank of the Vistula.

Hans Frank considered Kazimierz, with its synagogues and old streets, to be an important district in Krakow's history that should be "preserved." So it was: the Jewish ghetto was created in Podgorze, in a much more outlying area where it was easier to confine and monitor an entire population.

Again, events unfolded very quickly: within a few weeks, in March 1941, Jews moved into the ghetto while non-Jews were ordered to leave. The district lost part of its prewar population, while others arrived en masse with their suitcases, their furniture, their children.

Among them were the shopkeepers from the Podgorze district. Along with the Under the Eagle Pharmacy, there were four non-Jewish pharmacists based in the neighborhood, including Tadeusz Pankiewicz. Naturally, the Nazis offered this Catholic the option of moving his business to another area, away from the ghetto. However, unlike his three colleagues, Tadeusz Pankiewicz refused, a decision that carried serious consequences in this context.

He was then granted a special permit to work inside the ghetto, and his business thus became the only pharmacy in the Krakow ghetto. His employees, Irena Drozdzikowska, Helena Krywaniuk, and Aurelia Danek, each received passes allowing them to enter and leave the ghetto, a rare privilege that would play an important role.

As for himself, Tadeusz Pankiewicz chose to live in the pharmacy, turning this workplace into living quarters, a thoroughfare, and soon a center of resistance.

When Apteka pod Orłem becomes a place of resistance

During the existence of the ghetto, the Under the Eagle Pharmacy gradually became a place of support, a discreet refuge, and a center of resistance for the Jewish residents of Podgorze.

A closed, overcrowded ghetto around the pharmacy

The ghetto is a closed-off place, where families are crammed together to the point of suffocation, in a confined area that is permanently monitored. To begin with, the Nazis even surrounded it with stones that looked like tombstones, as if to remind everyone of the fate that awaited them. You can still see a few remnants of this opposite No. 22 Lwowska Street, not far from the square.

Before the war, there were about 320 buildings on the site, housing 3500 people. When the ghetto was created, 15,000 people were forced in, meaning they had to house four times as many people in the same space. The ghetto was in fact a very small area, covering what is today Ghetto Heroes Square (Plac Bohaterów Getta), Limanowskiego and Lwowska Streets, along with the small adjacent streets. Walking across the square today, it helps to keep these figures in mind to understand just how densely populated it was.

At first, the ghetto was organized somewhat like an ordinary city: there were shops, places of worship, and despite the suffocating overcrowding, residents tried to regain a semblance of normal life. They even published a newspaper there, the Gazeta Zydowska, a few copies of which can be seen in the museum today.

The Nazis periodically entered the ghetto and humiliated the Jewish residents, for example by cutting off the beards and sidelocks of Orthodox Jews, or by organizing violent "checks." They also decreed that all signs had to be written in Hebrew rather than Polish. Yet, although they were Jewish, many people did not know this language well and suddenly found themselves surrounded every day by signs they could no longer read. Only Tadeusz Pankiewicz's pharmacy was exempt from this rule, which also made it a landmark, a place where people could still encounter the language of the outside world.

Over time, deportations multiplied and became increasingly violent. In December 1941, when temperatures were freezing (around 0°C / 32°F and below), the Nazis ordered the Jews to hand over all their fur coats, gloves, and fur-lined shoes, depriving them of the few protections they had against the cold.

"December 28 was a Saturday. Early in the morning, the German police entered the ghetto and carried out a very thorough search. Houses, apartments, attics and basements were inspected with spite. They looked inside ovens to make sure no furs were being burned. They also included my pharmacy in their intensive search.[...]

People were sewing blankets together to replace the fur lining in their coats. Women were embroidering patterns on their collars to create the illusion of Crimean lambskin. This Aktion, although it involved considerable material losses for some people, inspired a lot of ridicule at the Germans' expense.

Caricatures appeared showing German soldiers on the Russian front dressed in ladies' furs and wearing traditional Jewish fur hats, shivering from the cold" (Tadeusz Pankiewicz, The Krakow Ghetto Pharmacy).

Some people turned against their own community. One account in Apteka pod Orlem, for example, mentions Symche Spira, "who had undergone a transformation: from the Orthodox Jew with a beard and sidelocks he had been before the war, he had become an immoral tormentor of his fellow Jews, whom he forced to mistreat other Jews." This kind of portrayal also recalls the moral complexity of those years, which the museum highlights in subtle ways.

From everyday support to organized resistance

In December 1942, the Nazis created a subdivision within the ghetto itself, which is mentioned in the film Schindler's List, by the way: Ghetto A grouped together the workers, Ghetto B everyone else, destined to be sent to the camps. The liquidation of the Krakow ghetto took place on March 13 and 14, 1943: 2,000 people were killed on the spot, 2,000 were deported to the nearby Plaszow camp, and many others were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Amid this chaos, before that liquidation, the pharmacy in the Krakow ghetto gradually became a center of resistance. To begin with, Tadeusz Pankiewicz arranged to distribute medicines to the population free of charge (or for a modest amount), in a context of shortages where the slightest ointment or tablet mattered. Residents came there to get medicine, but also at times for a bit of comfort.

He then also provided them with ways to deceive the enemy: for example, he obtained hair dye that made it easier to change identity or improve one's appearance in order to look "fit for work" during selections. He supplied tranquilizers (phenobarbital) to keep children from crying when they had to hide to escape Gestapo raids.

Tadeusz Pankiewicz also became a courier, carrying parcels and messages between the ghetto and the outside, using his exit permits to move information, letters, and sometimes valuable objects. He allowed people to gather in his pharmacy to read resistance newspapers, and at times even hid Jews under threat of deportation in the back room or adjoining rooms.

The museum set up in the Krakow ghetto pharmacy lets you explore all these aspects: the living conditions in the ghetto, the day-to-day life of this unusual business whose employees risked death if their efforts to help Jews were discovered, and the way a neighborhood pharmacy could become an island of solidarity.

A museum-memorial built on testimonies

Apteka pod Orlem is now a museum built on testimony and lived experience: life in the ghetto, the lives of those who betrayed their own people to serve as informers, the daily routine of families crammed into a few rooms. You will find excerpts from Pankiewicz's book, period photos, medical objects, and reconstructed furniture.

Only one principle truly guides the visit: make yourself "at home". If you keep your distance, this museum will feel very static, even boring. To grasp its richness, you have to be willing to interact with it: open the cupboards, pull out the drawers, pick up the phone when it rings – to hear testimonies – try out the cash register. The current furniture is a reconstruction because the original furnishings were destroyed, but together they recreate the atmosphere of a pharmacy from the first half of the 20th century.

One room shows how the Jewish community tried to recover after the Second World War in Krakow, with photos of the rebuilt city and faces of survivors trying to resume a "normal" life in a country then undergoing major political upheaval.

In 1983, Tadeusz Pankiewicz was recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations" by the Yad Vashem memorial in Israel, in recognition of his involvement with the Jewish population. That same April, the Apteka Pod Orlem museum opened its doors; Tadeusz Pankiewicz was able to attend the inauguration and see his former pharmacy become a place of remembrance.

The site received a contribution of several thousand euros (about several thousand US dollars / British pounds) from Steven Spielberg, a much-needed boost to preserve the pharmacy that had been a true "light in the darkness," an island of kindness in a world that sorely lacked it. This support came after the filming of Schindler's List, which brought Krakow and its ghetto back to the forefront of the international stage.

Tadeusz Pankiewicz died ten years later, in 1993, leaving behind an account, a place, and a memory that continue to be passed on to visitors.

How to visit the ghetto pharmacy museum?

The ghetto pharmacy is easy to visit from downtown Krakow and fits very well into an itinerary around Podgorze, Schindler's Factory, and the Plaszow camp.

Where is the Krakow ghetto pharmacy and how do you get there?

The ghetto pharmacy is located directly on Ghetto Heroes Square (Plac Bohaterów Getta), the departure point for most of the deportation waves during World War II. Today, the square is marked by an installation of large metal chairs symbolizing the residents who disappeared, and the pharmacy occupies one corner of the square, with a light, discreet façade.

You can easily reach the site from central Krakow by taking the tram to Plac Bohaterów Getta station. Several lines stop there, which makes it convenient to get to from different parts of the city. In 2026, lines 3, 17, 24, and 69 serve the square, with frequent service during the day.

From the Old Town (Stare Miasto), you generally just need to walk to a major thoroughfare like Starowiślna or to the main train station, then take a direct tram to Podgorze. Allow about fifteen minutes on the tram from the center, plus a few minutes on foot depending on where you are staying.

I recommend the Jakdojade mobile app for all your public transport routes in Krakow: it is very handy for finding the right tram lines, checking the stop closest to your accommodation, and following your journey in real time.

Opening hours, tickets and combined passes in 2026

Museum tickets are sold on site, right next to the entrance, along the side of the building, at a small, discreet ticket window. You can also book them online in advance by choosing "Eagle Pharmacy" from the list of museums, which is preferable if you're planning a day organized around several visits.

In 2026, a full-price ticket costs the equivalent of 5–6 euros (about $5.50–$6.50 or £4.25–£5.10), with discounts for children, students, and seniors. The current prices and opening hours are listed on the Krakow Museum website, which manages the ghetto pharmacy.

In general, the museum is open from Wednesday to Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with free admission on Wednesdays by reservation or by picking up a ticket on site, subject to the available quota.

The Krakow Museum offers an itinerary called the "Memory Trail", which links several major sites connected to the history of World War II, including the ghetto pharmacy, Oskar Schindler's Factory (a visit I really recommend!) and the Pomorska Street Museum, located in the former Gestapo headquarters.

There is a combined ticket for these different sites. In practice, it is not widely promoted and cannot be booked online. If you want to visit several locations, the simplest and safest option is often to buy the tickets separately, especially during peak times… You can also ask directly on site, but there is a risk that some sites or time slots will no longer be available.

How much time to plan and in what order to organize your visit?

Plan on spending 45 minutes to 1 hr 15 to visit the ghetto pharmacy, depending on how quickly you read, how sensitive you are to the subject, and how much time you devote to listening to the audio testimonies. The museum is small but dense, with many texts, photos, and objects that are worth taking your time with.

I recommend including the ghetto pharmacy as part of a half-day or full day focused on Podgorze and the history of World War II in Krakow. For example, you can:

• Start with Ghetto Heroes Square and the pharmacy, to understand the place from which the deportations departed.
• Then continue on to Schindler's Factory, about a fifteen-minute walk or a few minutes by tram, for a broader account of wartime Krakow.
• Finish, if you wish, with a walk to the former Plaszow camp, to grasp in very concrete terms what these forced departures meant.

This progression helps maintain a certain coherence in terms of both emotion and understanding, moving from the living neighborhood to the places of forced labor and then to the killing sites.

Available languages and practical tips on site

The explanatory panels and a large part of the audio resources are in English and Polish, with the occasional quote translated from other texts.

If you travel with people who do not have a good command of English, the museum is still worth visiting, because the atmosphere, objects, and photos speak for themselves, but they will inevitably miss some of the historical nuances and testimonies. In that case, I advise them to prepare a bit beforehand by reading about the subject, or to translate as needed on their phone using an app such as Google Translate.

The space is quite limited, but the museum layout was redesigned a few years ago to improve accessibility. If you are traveling with a baby or a toddler, a baby carrier will be more practical in the narrower rooms, even though the visit itself is relatively short.

The Traveler's Memo for visiting the Krakow ghetto pharmacy

Here are the answers to the most frequent questions to help you plan a visit to the Eagle Pharmacy smoothly.

To conclude, the Krakow ghetto pharmacy is a place that leaves a lasting impression without necessarily trying to overwhelm you, a human-scale museum where you can take the time to read, listen, and imagine what life was like in the ghetto. By setting aside an hour for it during your stay, you add a special depth to your discovery of Krakow, beyond the colorful façades of the Old Town and walks along the Vistula.