The city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland’s second-most-important city. 
After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany at the start of World War II, the newly defined Distrikt Krakau (Kraków District) became the capital of Germany’s General Government. The Jewish population of the city was forced into a walled zone known as the Kraków Ghetto, from where they were sent to Nazi extermination camps such as the nearby Auschwitz, and Nazi concentration camps like Płaszów. In 1978, Karol Wojtyła, archbishop of Kraków, was elevated to the papacy as Pope John Paul II—the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.^[11] Also that year, UNESCO approved Kraków’s entire Old Town and historic centre as its first World Heritage Site alongside Quito.^[12]

Source: Wikipedia