We are sharing a column by Dr. Hanna Węgrzynek, Deputy Director for Research and Exhibitions at the Warsaw Ghetto Museum, published in Plus Minus magazine – the weekend edition of Rzeczpospolita – on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the closing of the Warsaw Ghetto borders.
18th November,
In his diary for March 30, 1940, Adam Czerniaków, chairman of the Warsaw Judenrat (the Jewish Council established by the Germans in early October 1939), wrote: " Since this morning, rumors of a ghetto... I delivered... our letter regarding the impossibility of building walls (damage to water installations, electricity, cables, etc.). " What seemed improbable in the spring of 1940 became a fact a few months later. In mid-November, a walled ghetto was established in the very heart of Warsaw, officially called by the Germans Jüdische Wohnbezirk (Jewish residential district). A fairly neutral term, it did not yet foretell the horror of this place.
Stigmatization and alienation
The ghetto was sealed on November 16, 1940. It encompassed an area of approximately 4 square kilometers, representing less than 3% of the city's territory at the time. It was surrounded by a 3-meter-high wall, its top secured with broken glass and heightened in some places with barbed wire fences. By the end of 1940, the ghetto contained approximately 395,000 Jews, who had lived not only in Warsaw before the war but had also been forcibly relocated from other towns, including territories incorporated into the Third Reich. The ghetto had 22 guarded gates, open at designated times. A curfew was in effect throughout the city. To leave or enter the ghetto, one had to obtain a permit. Attempts to cross its borders illegally carried the risk of severe penalties, including the death penalty.
The establishment of the ghetto was preceded by several months of preparations, both organizational and propaganda. From the very beginning of the occupation, the Germans took steps to isolate the Jewish population, introducing and consistently expanding racist legislation. From December 1939, Jews in the General Government were ordered to wear an armband with the Star of David, one of the Jewish religious and national symbols, on their right forearm. Similar markings were to be placed on the windows of Jewish shops. Soon, Jews were banned from using many public institutions, such as libraries, railways, and "Aryan" restaurants and cafes. They were also banned from parks and the most prestigious parts of the city, such as Aleje Ujazdowskie and Saski Square, renamed Adolf Hitler Platz. Restrictions were also introduced on the practice of certain professions, such as medicine and law. These measures served to stigmatize and alienate them from Polish society, and also fueled mutual antagonism.
Typhus infection zone
Before World War II, nearly 370 Jews lived in Warsaw, constituting less than 30% of the total population. The first plans to create a ghetto were made as early as November 1939. However, implementation began the following spring, when the Germans announced the division of the city into three parts: German, Polish, and Jewish. Initially, they intended to relocate Jews to the outskirts of the city, to Praga, Koło, and Grochów. Relocating such a large number of people posed numerous organizational challenges, so they decided to create a ghetto in the areas with the largest Jewish population, encompassing a large portion of the city center. In March 1940, this area was marked with signs warning of the threat of an epidemic.
The destruction caused by the city's defense during the September Campaign, the problems associated with the burial of dead people and animals, the hardships of the initial occupation period, including the loss of jobs and other sources of income, and the harsh winter contributed to the deterioration of the city's sanitary conditions. The increasing impoverishment of the population was evident, which ultimately led to a deterioration in its physical condition. Food and fuel were in short supply. This led to an increase in illnesses, and the appearance of typhus in the autumn of 1939 – " an inseparable companion of war and famine ," as Ludwik Hirszfeld wrote.
The German authorities decided to exploit the fear of an epidemic. A rumor spread that the source of typhus was the part of the city inhabited primarily by Jews. A clear propaganda message was consistently built: since Jews spread disease, they should therefore be isolated. The atmosphere in the city must have been tense, fueled by uncertainty and fear for the future. At the end of March 1940, during Holy Week, anti-Jewish riots broke out. The participants were mainly Polish teenagers. The Germans gained another propaganda advantage; this time, they presented themselves as defenders of the Jewish population, whom they supposedly protected by isolating in a separate part of the city.
In the spring of 1940, a typhus-infected zone was designated in Warsaw. At the same time, the Germans ordered the Judenrat to fence this area with a wall at their own expense. The zone encompassed the area between Stawki and Błońska Streets in the north, Okopowa and Towarowa Streets in the west, Chmielna Street in the south, Marszałkowska Street in the east, and parts of the Old and New Town, up to Brzozowa and Rybaki Streets. The designated part of the city was densely built up, mostly with multi-story, 19th-century tenement houses with courtyards and wells. Therefore, significant sections of the boundaries were to run along the gable ends of existing buildings or fences separating individual properties. Walls began to be built across streets located on the outskirts of the designated area, such as Sienna, Świętokrzyska, Piwna, and Kapitulna Streets. By the end of June, 20 sections had been built. Soon, some had to be demolished, for example in the Old Town. Both the City Council and the Judenrat intervened with the German authorities, seeking to change the ghetto's boundaries, citing, among other things, the need to adapt them to the city's transportation needs. Similar efforts, though mostly informal, were also undertaken by Poles who owned properties that were to be included within the ghetto.
These efforts often met with success. The ghetto's area was significantly reduced, and its borders no longer ran straight along the streets, but became jagged. The final decisions regarding the area that was to constitute the ghetto were published by the Germans in the "Nowy Kurier Warszawski" on October 14 and 15, 1940, and then officially published in the "Dziennik Obserwczeń Miasta Warszawy" (Warsaw City Announcement Journal). A few days earlier, on October 2, Dr. Ludwig Fischer, governor of the Warsaw District of the General Government, issued an order establishing a Jewish district in Warsaw. At the same time, he designated the area of the German district.
Divided by a wall
A massive population movement began. Approximately 113 Poles were forced to leave the area of the future ghetto, while 138 Jews residing in various parts of the city were forced to move in. Those obliged to relocate were responsible for finding suitable housing, although theoretically this task was to be handled by the city's housing office. The earliest resettlements affected those forced to leave buildings occupied by the Germans. Housing difficulties intensified. Displaced persons also arrived in Warsaw, primarily from areas incorporated into the Third Reich.
As it turned out, not all Poles and Jews complied with the German regulations. The rigors of relocation, difficulties in finding housing, and the uncertainty posed by the new situation led to the decision to remain in their former location. Polish-Jewish couples faced a particularly difficult situation, forced by Nazi law to separate. There are known cases of Poles who either did not move out of the ghetto or moved there with their families. The establishment of the ghetto affected the functioning of the entire city and the lives of its residents. It caused transportation difficulties, especially hindering connections with Wola, where the largest industrial plants were located, some of which were still operating. Many Poles lost their jobs in various enterprises and institutions located within the ghetto. The Wall separated friends and acquaintances. No one at the time could have imagined the horrific crimes that would soon unfold. The closure of the ghetto ushered in one of the most tragic chapters in Warsaw's history: the extermination of a third of its inhabitants.
Dr. Hanna Wegrzynek
The author is a historian and deputy director for research and exhibitions at the Warsaw Ghetto Museum.
Photo: map of Warsaw from November 1940 (Wikipedia)
