Just in time for the upcoming tourist season, two valuable new resources have been launched that will be of use and interest for travellers (and even armchair travellers) interested in Warsaw’s Jewish heritage and contemporary life. One — a detailed Jewish guide to Warsaw — is online, and one — the Menora Info Point and bistro — is an actual physical place.
Both are projects of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
The Jewish Guide to Warsaw is a richly detailed, multimedia online resource, presenting Warsaw as seen through the history of its Jewish residents.
It has three sections presenting different ways to “tour” the city, its history and its present-day Jewish life.
— one follows in the footsteps of individual Jews who historically were important for the city
— one follows in the footsteps of Janusz Korczak, the WW2-era Jewish orphanage director who was deported to his death along with the children from the orphanage
— one is a multi-media exploration of Jewish history in Warsaw, including the Holocaust. One section of this is devoted to the post-War Jewish experience, recounted in the form of blogposts and photographs by some of today’s Jewish Varsavians.
The Menora InfoPunkt and cafe is located a Plac Grzybowski 2, in the heart of the former downtown Jewish district, a few steps from the Nozyk synagogue and the offices of a number of Jewish institutions.
Located in what years ago was the Menorah Jewish restaurant, the new center — open Monday-Friday from 10-7 — offers Jewish tourism information, brochures, maps and leaflets, on-site databases, and other aids to visitors; it also has space for meetings and can be followed on Facebook.
The premises showcases a new Jewish bistro and bake shop — Charlotte — that also runs cooking workshops. (NOTE: The restaurant does not seem to be kosher, but “kosher-style.”)