Eradication and Devastation

Although there are not many traces of the Jewish district or way of life left in Poland, the Jewish community played an integral role in the history and development of Warsaw and Poland and its influence lives on in other ways. 

Before WWII, there were 500,000 Jews living in Poland, the largest Jewish community in all of Europe.

Poland – from "Po Lin" meaning “Rest Here” in Hebrew – had developed over hundreds of years to become one of the most tolerant and accepting countries towards the Jewish faith and community.

In the 13^th – 17^th centuries, many of the Dukes recognized strong benefits, financial and otherwise, of supporting the Jewish community and, as a result, created royal protections and special taxation rules (where the taxes were paid directly to the Crown), that enabled Jews to practice their way of life.

In the 19^th century, when Russia took over parts of Poland, the unified and tolerant community began to change, with many Polish starting to blame Jews for some of the bad developments and incidents that were happening in the country.

This began the exodus of Jews from Poland with large numbers leaving before WWI.

Those that stayed, however, saw an independent Poland emerge after WWI where Jews began to again play a meaningful role in politics and other city life.

Their role in politics, however, often angered other Poles.  This, paired with other global developments, led to a strong rise of anti-semitism and caused many more Jews to leave the country in the mid-1930s.

And then WWII began.

When the Germans conquered Poland in 1939 and took control of Warsaw, one of their first acts was to undertake a city census to learn exactly who was living in the city and where.

Having implemented rules that Jews must identify themselves by wearing a Star of David – a form of segregation and humiliation - the Germans quickly ramped up their persecution with information gained from the census.

Upon review of the rolls, they determined that the majority of the Jews lived close to each other near the heart of the Old Town.  As a result, they cordoned off the area to create the Jewish Ghetto where all Jews would be required to live.  Those that were not Jewish were removed from the area and any Jews not yet living in the Ghetto were forced to move into it.  In the middle of the Ghetto was a carve-out for an existing Church and Government Administrative building which allowed for unfettered access by non-Jews.

The Ghetto – 3 square km in total – was far too small for the number of inhabitants, which at one point accommodated 450,000 people.  This resulted in not just overcrowding but the sickness and disease that naturally followed from such cramped quarters and poor living conditions.

Jews in the Ghetto were provided official meals totalling just 300 calories per day while undertaking often gruelling slave labour for their captors. This lead them to survive on handouts and scraps.

In the end, almost 100,000 Jewish deaths were as a result of the horrid conditions of the Warsaw Ghetto itself.

Natural death through squalid conditions was not enough for the Germans and, in 1941, the Germans began to implement the Final Solution, erecting Extermination Camps and Concentration Camps all around Europe, particularly in Poland.

So many of the Camps were built in Poland (and close to the rail stations) for a variety of reasons.  First, much of the Jewish population lived in or near Poland which made the trip more efficient.  Second, Poland was in Northern Europe and not often on the awareness radar of the Allies, making it easier to undertake these murderous activities without as much attention.

Nalewki Street (before and after)

In 1941, the Germans worked to get rid of the Ghetto by sending Jews to these labour and extermination camps.  Those that were deemed capable of work were sent to Auschwitz, while women/children and men that weren’t “fit” for work were sent to Treblinka, an extermination camp, just outside of Warsaw.  After arriving by train in Treblinka, Jews were made to undress, sort their things and then walk naked to the Chamber where they were met with death supplied by carbon monoxide asphyxiation produced by a large internal combustion engine.

Like clockwork, the physical size of the Warsaw Ghetto was reduced as people were sent off to camps and the Ghetto was emptied.  

As the remaining Jews in the Ghetto began to understand their likely fate, they organized the Ghetto Uprising.  They knew they had no chance of success but decided it was better to die with dignity.  

The Ghetto Uprising lasted only a few days and was expectedly unsuccessful. 

After the Ghetto Uprising, the entire Ghetto was burned, leaving only the Church and Administrative building standing.  It is said that the Warsaw residents outside the Ghetto could smell the burning flesh and see the ashes rising.  Nothing is left.

A monument in honour of those brave Jewish soldiers has been erected in front of Polin, a remarkable museum that explores the influence of the Jewish Community in Poland.

The Warsaw Ghetto (before and after)

The Ghetto wasn't the only thing annihilated.  So successful was the eradication of the Jews in the Ghetto and the surrounding camps that by 1943 Treblinka was no longer needed and was also destroyed.  It is estimated that between 700,000-900,000 victims were murdered in Treblinka.

In the memorials around the city, there are photographs of Nalewki Street, which was a key trading and community street at the heart of Jewish life.  So crowded with houses, people and activity, accounts say it was often difficult for people to move around.

At the end of the War, there was nothing left of that street and visitors can see the change with their own eyes.  The street has not been rebuilt and lays empty, with just the streetcar track running through it (photo above).  The name has been changed to Ghetto Heroes Way.

 Although no physical buildings in the Ghetto remain, a brass memory line and plaques runs around the outer perimeters of the Ghetto.  Of course, it could never be enough.  What could be?

After the War, the Jewish Historical Institute was created and is a repository of documentary materials relating to the Jewish historical presence in Poland.  It is also a centre for academic research and the dissemination of knowledge about the history and culture of Polish Jewry.  One of the important services they offer is helping people to trace their family roots and connections, which was made almost impossible because of the destruction of records during the War.  Nonetheless, their creative and skilled searching has helped thousands of families to reconnect piece together important pieces of their history and emerge from the ashes of the terrifying destruction.