Warsaw Walk "Small Ghetto in the Center of Warsaw"

To the north, the border was formed by Stawki Street, Parysowski Square, and Dzika Street. To the east, I believe, the exits onto Bonifraterska Street, Zakroczymska Street, Nalewki Street, Senatorska Street's exit onto Teatralny Square, then a narrowing arrowhead to the corner of Chłodna Street and Żelazna Street, where a narrow isthmus connected the large northern section, which was immediately dubbed the large ghetto, with the small ghetto—the southern one. The small ghetto had an eastern border—the exits onto Marszałkowska Street, and a northern border—the exits onto Chłodna Street, Mirowski Square, and Żelaznej Bramy Square. Even-numbered sections of Chłodna Street, between Żelazna and Wronia Street, belonged to the large ghetto, while odd-numbered sections belonged to the small ghetto.

– Henryk Makower, "Memoirs from the Warsaw Ghetto. October 1940 – January 1943", pp. 8-9.

The Small Ghetto – first class on the extermination train. The southern part of the Warsaw Ghetto, inhabited by the more affluent, wealthy citizens, and the intelligentsia. The Judenrat headquarters were also located there. Also within the so-called Small Ghetto was Sienna Street, considered one of the finest and most elegant in the ghetto, and on it was the Bersohn and Bauman Children's Hospital – the eventual site of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum.

This part was connected to the so-called Large Ghetto by footbridges. The most famous of these was located on Chłodna Street, which was located in the "Aryan" part of the city. Photographs depicting Jews crossing the wooden bridge became permanently etched in the collective imagination of the Holocaust. Instead of connecting the two parts of the ghetto, the footbridge became a symbol of the isolation and dehumanization of Warsaw's Jews. The Small Ghetto ceased to exist after the so-called Great Deportation Action in the Warsaw Ghetto.

We invite you to this year's sixth Warsaw Walk – "A Small Ghetto in the Center of Warsaw," which will take place on Sunday, November 21st. Meet at 12:00 noon in the courtyard of the former Bersohn and Bauman Hospital at 60 Sienna Street. The walk route leads along Sienna Street, through Grzybowski Square, Próżna Street, Graniczna Street, Grzybowska Street, Krochmalna Street, and finally Chłodna Street. Guided by Agnieszka Kuś, the walk is free.

See you soon!