November 16th is a tragic date in Warsaw's history – it was on this day in 1940 that the gates of the Warsaw Ghetto were closed, imprisoning nearly 400 people of Jewish descent. For the third year running, the Warsaw Ghetto Museum has organized ceremonies commemorating the victims of the largest ghetto in Europe.
This year's festivities began with the unveiling of a new plaque on a preserved section of the ghetto wall at 62 Złota Street , depicting a map of the Warsaw Ghetto from November 16, 1940. Previously, a plaque placed in this location by former Home Army soldier and historian Mieczysław Jędruszczak contained some inaccuracies, so with the consent of Jędruszczak's family, it was decided to replace it with a more current one.
A new plaque, funded by the Warsaw Ghetto Museum, marks places associated with the Warsaw Ghetto, including the former Bersohn and Bauman Children's Hospital – the eventual headquarters of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum. Along with MGW Director Albert Stankowski, Piotr Jędruszczak, grandson of "Guardian of the Wall" Mieczysław Jędruszczak, participated in the unveiling of the plaque . "I learned here that the wall, which is irrefutable proof of the existence of evil, is also a place where I learned about life," he said. "We hope that this plaque will serve future generations to remember what happened here," added Albert Stankowski.
At 12:00 the official ceremony of lighting candles began at the preserved fragment of the ghetto wall at Sienna Street 53, on the grounds of the Henryk Sienkiewicz High School No. 12. The ceremony was attended by representatives of state and local authorities, representatives of cultural institutions, and diplomats, including the Secretary of State and the Chief Conservator of Monuments. Jarosław Sellin, boss Chancellery of the Senate of the Republic of Poland Adam Niemczewski, boss Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression Jan Józef Kasprzyk, Belgian Ambassador Rik van Droogenbroeck, Israeli ambassador Yacov Livne, German ambassador Thomas Bagger, president Polish Society of the Righteous Among the Nations Anna Stupnicka-Brando, vice-chairman Jewish Historical Association Marian Turski and chairman Association of Jewish Veterans and Victims of World War II Marian Kalwary.
"We have come to this symbolic place [...] to pay tribute to the hundreds of thousands of victims of the ghetto, to remind them that they once lived just like us, had their own dreams, plans, and ideas for the future. The flames lit today are a reminder of their fate, but also a warning against the possibility of a repeat of the tragedy of World War II and the horror of the Holocaust," said Albert Stankowski , director of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum , opening the ceremony. "Our duty as custodians of the memory of the prisoners of the Warsaw Ghetto and other ghettos in occupied Poland is to constantly remind them of the paths of hate-based aggression against our neighbors, and the cost of war, especially for civilians," he added.
"We should remember the consequences of tolerating even anti-Semitic rhetoric," noted the event's co-host, Artur Hoffman , president of the Jewish Social and Cultural Association in Poland . He thanked all the guests, emphasizing that their participation in the ceremony meant that "the memory of the sad day of November 16, 1940, is not limited to the memory of Polish Jews."
Minister Jarosław Sellin also delivered a speech at the ghetto wall , emphasizing the importance of commemorating the anniversary of the closing of the Warsaw Ghetto and thanking the Warsaw Ghetto Museum for this new tradition. Minister Jan Józef Kasprzyk, in turn , recalled that the cause of World War II by two criminal regimes – the Third Reich and Soviet Russia – was "hatred and an attempt to divide nations into better and worse, […] the desire to reshape the world in which only the strong are right," and appealed for "never again for any state or nation to consider itself superior."
Israel's ambassador to Poland, Yacov Livne , delivered a moving speech, sharing his personal story and thanking all the event participants for their "daily work and effort to ensure that we never forget." The ceremony concluded with a prayer by Itzhak Rappoport, Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Warsaw.
On November 16, candles were also lit under commemorative plaques in 21 other places where the borders of the Warsaw Ghetto ran, including at the corner of Chłodna and Żelazna Streets, on Andersa Street in the Krasiński Garden, and on the corner of Świętojerska and Nowiniarska Streets, near the site of the carousel in Krasiński Square.
