Krakow,Poland - Benzion Miller, the son of concentration camp survivors, sings a prayer in memory of Krakow's Jews near the spot of his own family's painful history. The melody fills a square near the city's old Jewish district, three kilometres from the area of former Nazi death camps. Rows of empty, metal chairs line the square to symbolize the discarded furniture left behind by ghetto Jews before they were taken to Auschwitz. Miller's arms stretch out in disbelief as he sings, and his eyebrows squeeze together as if asking, "why?"
Miller knows he's singing to "deaf ears" at the city's annual Jewish Culture Festival, because the largely Polish crowd doesn't understand Yiddish, but he says music has a way of getting through to convey his message of nostalgia and regret.
The Brooklyn-based cantor says Poles attend the festival because they long to connect with the past, when Kazimierz was a vibrant Jewish district that boasted seven synagogues and Jewish culture inspired Polish artists and writers. Locals are interested even if they have no Jewish roots, he said, because they thirst for history and the city's past.
"It comes from not knowing what was," he said. "It's a void."
Jews in Poland have a 1,000-year history and Krakow's old Jewish quarter was their cultural centre. But the Holocaust, communist purges and post-war pogroms saw the community dwindle to some 200 Jews and three active synagogues.
Founder Janusz Makuch once worried if his first festival in 1988 would fill a 100-seat auditorium in communist Poland. The Kazimierz district was then known for its decrepit buildings, crime and drug dealing.
Now the festival is the largest of its kind in Europe, and pulls in Poles and tourists alike. Krakow may not have the Jewish population it did before the war, but Jewish culture has made a come- back and the shady neighbourhood has become trendy.
Held every year in early July, the festival is slated as a "symbolic bridge where Poles and Jews meet to understand and reconcile," amid a relationship scarred by World War II and anti- Semitic incidents during communist times.
The 10-day event includes a slew of activities, from tours of the district's synagogues and the Krakow Ghetto to workshops in Klezmer basics, Hasidic songs and Jewish cuisine. There's also Israeli poster exhibits, lectures on Judaism and "Jazz Klez" sessions at night.
Bozena Klotowska, a Polish Catholic, says she's interested in Jewish culture and Hasidic traditions, and attended the festival's dance workshops and lectures on spirituality.
"I think a lot has changed in the past few years," Klotowska said. "I think a lot of people are interested and are jealous of me (for being able to attend.) There's a lot of Catholics. They met with the rabbi and asked a lot of questions."
This year's festival also coincided with Israel's 60th anniversary, and brought a new focus on the cultures of the Holy Land.
Wafik Asamy, a Druze from Israel, was invited to bring the smells and sights of his small village to the fashionable district. He set up a tent selling Christian crosses from Nazareth, Jewish amulets against bad spirits and camel figurines from Hebron, while cooking up pita bread with spices, olive oil and coffee.
"I feel like I'm making peace between cultures because I feel bad about the disaster that happened here," Asamy said. "I feel I did something to bring people closer."
The emphasis on Israel - which includes a poster exhibit, Klezmer concerts and lecture from Israel's ambassador - also aims to show Poles a different view of Jewry outside its familiar history.
"We want to show Jews are very modern because many people only know rabbis and Orthodox Jews," said Yosi Notkowitz, an event producer of Polish descent who lives in Israel.
"My parents never agreed to return to Poland and for me it's like closing the circle. They were born here, they were thrown from here and I return here and bring back Jewish culture."
