Liban Quarry

The Liban quarry featured prominently in Speilberg's film "Schindler's List". This pre-war limestone quarry was used for the set depicting Płaszów concentration camp. So, to clear up any confusion, this quarry was NOT in real life part of Płaszów. It WAS however a penal camp where 800 young poles were incarcerated from 1942 - 1944, and who suffered at the hands of their cruel Nazi captors. Beatings and death were dealt out liberally. In fact, a small monument, which is extremely difficult to find, exists at the ul. Za Torem side of the quarry to 21 inmates executed when the camp was liberated. Speilberg used the quarry as he did not want to film on the site of the neighbouring Płaszów out of respect for the camp's victims.

The quarry, limekilns and double "concentration camp" fence

Limekilns

Old quarry machinery

Old machinery

The Liban quarry itself actually dates back to 1873, and was established by two well known Jewish families from Podgórze for limestone for the production of quicklime. What remains today is an overgrown tangle of remnants of all these activities - working quarry, penal camp and film set. It certainly becomes very confusing when trying to decipher what remnant dates to what activity. What is evident though, is the creepy air that lies trapped within the vertical limestone walls of this ex-camp, a mere walk from the centre of Kraków.

Getting to the Liban Quarry from the main square

The main way to access the quarry is from the Krakus mound. Stroll along the rim of the cliffs, following the fence until you come to a large cemetery. Proceed through a gap between the fences a short way. You will then come to a point where the dirt path veers to the right. Follow it and you will immediately find a path following a long angled ramp down to the floor of the quarry. After this, it is a case of foraging your way through the thick tangle of undergrowth to the various remnants that lie hidden within. The most obvious remnants are the large, tall, rusting limekilns which really do date back to the war. If you scramble up to these, lurking in the trees close by, are the remains of the fake camp commandant's house that Speilberg constructed on a terraced perch overlooking the rest of the quarry.

Limeworks

The quarry walls

Don't miss the central road running through the floor of the quarry, which appears to be made of smashed up Jewish gravestones. Once again, this is a remnant from the film set mimicking the road of gravestones that really did exist leading into the real Płaszów camp. I am led to believe however, that the road made for the film set was made from casts of real gravestones. That said, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find it, as the quarry is gradually being swallowed up by nature. I have even heard the site is becoming a haven for wild flowers, rare lizards and birds who forage amongst the gallows, barbed wire and dense undergrowth.

Road made from smashed Jewish gravestones lurking under the snow

Road made from Jewish gravestones

Spielberg's concentration camp fence

Electric insulators still on Speilberg's fence

What a visit to the quarry undoubtedly gives the visitor, is a chance to wander independently, sometimes filled with apprehension, visiting the darkest recesses of Kraków's history. Since it is a forage into confusing aspects of the worst cruelty man can deal out to fellow human beings, a visit to here, and the neighbouring Płaszów camp, can provoke ponderous soul searching which can be more poignant than a trip to Auschwitz.