„GUIDE
TO THE FORMER
WARSAW GHETTO”
We entered the new year with a recent publication. "How do you conduct a tour of a place that doesn't exist? Can we take a moment to imagine Warsaw, either non-existent or hidden beneath layers of rubble on which new life has sprung? Can commemorations tell the history of what is non-existent?" - ponders the author of the guide, Masha Makarova.
Warsaw Ghetto Museum
The ghetto walls separated the Warsaw Ghetto Jews from the rest of Warsaw. They made daily navigation in the city difficult - they were positioned such that they fenced off the streets. Not only did the walls obscure the life and suffering of the ghetto residents from the eyes of witnesses on the Aryan side, but they also prevented them from having access to the other side of their city. "I often look at the sky and conclude that the sky in the ghetto is also beautiful and delightful; it is no uglier than the sky in Rome or elsewhere," - Abraham Lewin wrote in his diary in the Warsaw Ghetto on 20 June 1942. "One thing our ghetto sky lacks is a horizon. The ghetto is so small and surrounded by walls and ruins. There is insufficient open space for the eye to take a broader view of the sky and horizon. We can only see them as prisoners do from their cells. It is unfortunate and depressing."
The walls of the Warsaw Ghetto were mostly destroyed during the liquidation of the district and in the post-war years. In a few places, however, one can still see preserved fragments. In most cases, these are walls of pre-war buildings or the Jewish cemetery, which became the border between the ghetto and the so-called Aryan section. However, there are also walls dating back to the spring of 1940, built by the Judenrat (Jewish Council) at the behest of the occupying German authorities. Monuments to the ghetto borders appeared on some surviving walls in 2008. It was then that the boundaries of the enclosed district were clearly marked for the first time in contemporary Warsaw. At the end of the guide, we include a list of all the ghetto border monuments accompanied by a map. The ghetto encompassed one of Warsaw's most densely built-up areas and the city centre. The boundaries of the ghetto were constantly modified - both during the district's creation and after its closure on 16 November 1940. The most extensive boundary change occurred a year after this event - in the late autumn of 1941. To mitigate the smuggling of food and other goods, the borders were moved from the inner courtyards of tenement houses to the middle of the streets.
At the time, Chlodna Street was one of the most important thoroughfares in Warsaw and divided the ghetto into two parts: the 'small' in the south and the 'big' in the north. The passage from one section to the other was through a narrow isthmus at the intersection of Chlodna and Zelazna streets. It was often the site of violent scenes against Jews by the German police. In January 1942, on the orders of the Judenrat and approval of the occupying authorities, a wooden footbridge was built at the intersection to allow relatively fast and safe movement between the so-called small and large ghetto. The footbridge existed until mid-August 1942. It became redundant when the small ghetto was liquidated as a result of the so-called Grossaktion, the mass deportation in the Warsaw Ghetto. Within two months, from 22 July to 21 September 1942, the Germans deported some 265,000 Warsaw Jews from Warsaw to the Treblinka II extermination camp. About 50,000 people remained in the ghetto; some worked in German factories - the so-called sheds, and some - mainly children and the elderly - lived illegally in the district. After a short period of relative calm, the Germans resumed deportations from the ghetto on 18 January 1943. Despite encountering spontaneous resistance from the Jewish Combat Organisation, established in July 1942, they deported an estimated 8,000 people to Treblinka. In anticipation of further deportations and the liquidation of the ghetto, the civilian population of the ghetto began to prepare hiding places. On the morning of 19 April 1943, German troops entered the ghetto to carry out its final liquidation. Surprised by the armed resistance of two organisations, the Jewish Combat Organisation (ŻOB) and the Jewish Military Union (ŻZW), they retreated, suffering losses. After the first spectacular battles, ŻZW fighters hung flags - Polish, Zionist and probably a third, anarchist - on one of the ghetto's tenement houses. They were visible from behind the wall and conveyed the resistance of the ghetto inhabitants. "The period of active fighting in the ghetto ended after a few days. ŻZW fighters tried to exit the so-called Aryan side through a tunnel that had been prepared in advance. Members of the ŻOB went down into the bunkers and waged partisan attacks against the Germans. On 8 May 1943, the command and a substantial number of female and male fighters of the ŻOB committed collective suicide in the bunker at 18 Miła Street, where they had been hiding with the civilian population. On 10 May 1943, the remaining ŻOB fighters left through the sewers on the Aryan side of Warsaw. Six days later, German General Jürgen Stroop blew up the Great Synagogue on Tłomackie Square. For him, this act symbolised the end of the Jewish residential district, i.e. the Warsaw Ghetto and its inhabitants. Despite this destruction, people continued to live in hiding on the Aryan side and in the ruins of the Ghetto.
The guide we have prepared will take you through the most important sites related to the history of the life and extermination of the ghetto. If you only have a few hours in Warsaw, we’ve selected the must-see sights for your short visit. If you have more time, you can learn about the history of the small and large Warsaw Ghetto and explore the places you pass on your daily routes. Sometimes, to uncover the hidden history of the ghetto against the backdrop of contemporary Warsaw, you may need to peek around the back of a new building, enter a gate, or lean over a not-so-visible sign on the pavement. We will tell you where to look for it.