Lodz Things to Do

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If you visit Radogoszcz Prison you should consider a visit to the cemetery which is close by. Just inside the cemetery gates are 2 mass graves located by the wall facing ul. Zgierska. The first is of the approximately 1,500 victims of the fire at Radogoszcz Prison on the night of 17/18th January 1945. The second mass grave contains the remains of 86 Polish resistance fighters who were killed by the Germans during 1943/4.

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During WW2 Lodz had the second largest ghetto in Poland after Warsaw. Because of its good production record of supplying the Wehrmacht, the ghetto survived until 1944 before it was liquidated. A lot of the Lodz Ghetto public buildings and squares survived the war. You can follow the map which describes the location of the different sites but a lot of the buildings only have plaques on the wall and you can not see the inside. If you are pushed for time then it is probably better to visit The Radegast Station and The Jewish Cemetery. If you intend to walk around the whole route as per the map it better to start at the Radegast Station because it is disappointing starting the opposite way, as the area is run down. Not wanting to rush things as you can go off the route and visit other places such as the Survivors Park I spread it over 2 days.

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I had considered putting this tip in the shopping section but this complex is so much more than just a shopping mall. The first cloth was spun here in1852 and this large complex was developed by Israel Poznanski. It reached its present size in 1910 when over 6,000 people were employed weaving cotton. As mirrored by mill towns in Lancashire, the mill went into declined after world war two. With the collapse of its main market in the Soviet Union it ceased trading in 1997. The whole site was bought up by a French Company in 2000 and after 3 years of planning and 3 years of construction Manufaktura opened its doors on the 17th May 2006. So what is there? Well the whole site covers an area of 27 hectares (nearly 60 football pitches) and it is said to be the largest shopping complex in Europe. The original red brick mill factory buildings have been kept. Having visited a number of shopping complexes in Warsaw and other countries I would have to agree with that statement. When there is an electric bus available to transport you around and the security guard move around on Segways, it is large. It has over 300 shops, a multiplex cinema, gymnasium, museum of modern art, numerous restaurants, tourist information office, bowling alley, museum of the factory, hotel and conference centre. Israel Poznanski’s wealth was so vast that he built a palace next to the mill and this is now the museum of the city of Lodz. There are places to sit and watch the fountains, which you will need to do after walking around this vast complex.

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The red brick Radogoszcz Prison started life in the 1930s as a factory complex. It ended up in the hands of the German Army after the fall of Poland and became a barracks, before being turned into a transit camp. As the war went on, it gradually changed into a more sinister prison, with over 40,000 passing through it. The buildings were never constructed to act as a prison and the facilities crude and harsh. Added to this were beatings, executions and a lack of food. On the 18th January 1945 with the Soviets approaching the Nazis intended to execute the remaining 1,500 prisoners but lost their nerve when the prisoners started to fight back. The guards set fire to the prison with the prisoners still inside. Of the 1,500 prisoners who were in the prison only 30 survived. In the cemetery close by to Radogoszcz Prison is a mass grave to the victims of the fire. On the site now, there is a museum which documents the history of the prison plus the massacre at Katyn, exercise yard, watchtowers and a memorial.

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The Survivor’s Park is the latest public park to have been designed and landscaped in Lodz. It covers an area of 8.5 hectares. The park honours Poles who saved Jews during world war two. At one end of the park is a mound that is 8 metres in height with a sculpture of a man sitting on bench. The mound is a good vantage point to gain an over view of the park. As I was walking towards the mound I could see a person sitting on a bench and hoping they would move before I got there. It was only as I got closer that I realised it was a sculpture, how dumb am I, but it demonstrated how good it is. Standing on top of the mound you can view the other part of the park which has a monument in the shape of a Star of David with a reflecting pool. On the walls of the monument are plaques with the names of 3,351 Poles who have been awarded the status of Righteous among the Nations. Poland 6,135 has men and women who have been awarded the honorary title of Righteous among the Nations, the highest of any country. The penalty for a Pole assisting a Jew who had left the Ghetto was death. The assistance could be as simple as giving a lift in a vehicle or some food.

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The Botanical Gardens in Lodz are attractive and quite large at 64 hectares, If fact at one stage, because of its size I became slightly lost and was unable to find the exit. It was a warm Sunday morning and the gardens were quite busy, though I had feared they might be closed with the recent tragic events effecting Poland. The gardens are arranged in 8 different sections the largest being the arboretum at nearly 19 hectares which has a number of small ponds. The rock gardens are interesting and if Lin had been with me she would have said she could have done with some of the rocks in our garden. Besides the couples and families the gardens are very popular with amateur photographers who I noticed had some top of the range cameras. The gardens are well worth a visit and this can be combined with a visit to the zoo which is close by. The gardens are open from 1st April to 31st October at 0900 hours.

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Some of the early palms started life in the homes of rich factory owners who left the city when WW1 started. The plants were deposited within the city’s green houses. In 1925 the plants were moved to a canteen in Zrodiska Park that had been used by the unemployed. The collection grew over the next 30 years and the City decided that the canteen building should be altered to allow the public to view the plants. The present building was altered again and completed in 2003. It is divided into 3 areas with hard leaf plants, equatorial and tropical plants, and desert plants. There are also some fish and terrapins. Some of the palms are 140 years old and reach to the roof. All the plants are beautifully presented. The down side is it only took me 30 minutes to walk around and that was stretching it out plus the didactic garden was closed. Unless you are a real enthusiast it is not worth the 6 PLN to visit.

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I thought about going to the zoo on a warm Sunday morning but soon changed my mind when I saw the length of the queues. So I went the next day instead and it had much fewer visitors. I realise it is not to everyone’s taste but the animals looked well cared for. The zoo which opened in 1938 and covers an area of 16 hectares looks like it is undergoing some changes with new enclosures plus some of the older cages and enclosures were empty. The zoo opens daily at 0900 hours, it cost me 9 PLN to enter and I saw most of what was on offer.