Rumors about the creation of a ghetto had been circulating in Warsaw since the first months of the war, but a decision issued by the governor of the Warsaw district, Ludwig Fischer, in early October 1940 finally confirmed them.
The decree included a map of the streets within the ghetto and constituting its boundaries. However, it differed from the streets designated for the "typhus threat zone" and published in August by the ghetto-oriented press, "Nowy Kurier Warszawski" and "Gazeta Żydowska." The ghetto area, among other areas, was excluded from the proposed area between Bankowy Square, Senatorska and Bielańska Streets, as well as part of the Saxon Garden, and was expanded to include the Jewish cemetery and the area around Okopowa Street. The walls previously built on these streets and squares (including the Old Town), which ultimately fell outside the ghetto boundaries, were demolished. Before the ghetto gates were closed, the boundaries were revised several times, and the border streets and buildings were moved. This was due, among other things, to the construction of new buildings. from economic and financial issues (e.g. the operation of an industrial or manufacturing plant on a given street, which could not be relocated) or logistical issues (erecting a wall would make access to various institutions, e.g. hospitals, more difficult).
Emanuel Ringelblum , the ghetto chronicler, noted:
"Today, October 23rd, it was again announced over the loudspeaker that Waliców and Ceglana Street had been excluded [from the ghetto]. At the same time, it turned out that the news about the extension of the deadline from October 31st to November 15th was false. People have lost their minds, no one knows where to move. No street is safe, because everywhere there is something that could put this street in danger. Ulrich's factory is located on Ceglana Street, which was the reason for its exclusion from the ghetto."
There were many more similar changes and the resulting need to look for new premises.
The ghetto was sealed on November 16, 1940. Approximately 113 Poles were forced to leave the designated area, while 138 Jews residing in various parts of the city moved there. The district encompassed an area of approximately four square kilometers, representing less than three percent of the city's territory at the time. It was surrounded by a three-meter-high wall, the top of which was additionally secured with broken glass and in some places heightened with barbed wire fences. In the following months, the ghetto's boundaries changed. After the so-called Grossaktion, the district's area was significantly reduced.
The ghetto was accessed through 22 guarded gates, open at designated times. To leave or enter the district, one had to obtain the appropriate permit. Attempts to illegally cross the ghetto borders carried heavy penalties, even the death penalty. Ludwik Hirszfeld recalled:
"At the exits [of the ghetto gates] stands a guard, speaking the local dialect. It consists of a few armed Germans, looking at the crowd with contempt, Polish policemen, and obliging Jewish policemen, who, if they don't behave efficiently enough, get slapped in the face."
Being confined to the ghetto evoked mixed emotions among its inhabitants. Some believed that although their living conditions would deteriorate and they would be cut off from their former home and friends, they would still be able to live there relatively freely.
