Warsaw Ghetto – guided tour
The „Warsaw Ghetto” tour aims to introduce both the history of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Ghetto Uprising. The history of Jews in Poland is very long and dates back to the 10th century. It is in Poland that the history and culture of the Polish and Jewish nations have been intertwined for centuries. Before World War II, the Jews themselves said:
„The most Jews in the world live in Poland, as in Poland as in Warsaw, and as in Warsaw, at the corner of Nalewki and Gęsia Streets – this is the center of the Jewish world”
overheard at the Polin Museum
Unfortunately, this world ended and disappeared, along with the millions of Jews who created it all over Poland. World War II destroyed everything, and the walk aims to tell the story of the war, the ghetto and the heroic fight for dignity.
Warsaw Ghetto – a brief history
In Warsaw, in October 1940, the Germans created the largest ghetto in the General Government. The ghetto was finally closed and isolated from the rest of the city on November 16, 1940
As a result, the Warsaw Ghetto was a prison for nearly 450,000 Jews. Only a few survived. It is estimated that about 100,000 died of hunger and disease in the streets, and later about 300,000 were deported to the Treblinka Death Camp .
Despite the conditions prevailing in the Ghetto, Jews began to prepare resistance against the German Nazi army. The Jewish Combat Organization and the Jewish Military Union were established, whose purpose was to fight the occupier.
German soldiers, wanting to celebrate Hitler’s birthday, decided to liquidate the Warsaw Ghetto on April 19, 1943
The liquidation of the Ghetto was supposed to be a gift for Hitler’s birthday !!!
Jews resisted. On the day when the Germans crossed the ghetto gates – 19/04/1943 an uprising broke out and the Jews fought 28 days. Less than a month later, on 16.05.1943, the uprising collapsed and the Jewish residential district ceased to exist.
By order of Jurgen Stroop – German SS commander – the buildings of the Warsaw ghetto were demolished – as a result: stone on stone was not to remain from the Jewish quarter.
Today, it does not remind us much about the pre-war Jewish quarter – the former North District. It is estimated that around 350,000 Jews lived in Warsaw before World War II, i.e. they accounted for about 30% of the city’s population. Most of them lived in the North District, which is why this part was transformed into the Ghetto.
We invite you for a walk – the Warsaw Ghetto, during which we will try to bring you stories of the lives of Jews before the war, during the occupation – in the ghetto and the unequal fight for dignity and honor.
Walk about 2 hours:
We suggest starting a walk at Bankowy Square and ending at the Umschlagplatz Monument
- The place of the former Great Synagogue in Tłomackie
- A monument commemorating the ghetto gate and walls on former Nalewki Street
- Memorial Route of Jewish Martyrdom and Struggle
- Monument to the Ghetto Heroes
- Umschlagplatz monument
Warsaw Ghetto – another places to visit:
The points below can be seen all or only selected, depending on the duration of the trip.
- Original fragment of the ghetto wall – Złota street – about 0.5 hours
- Foodbridge of Memory in Chłodna Street – around 0.5 hours
- Monument of the Evacuation of Warsaw Ghetto Fighters at Prosta Street – about 0.5 hours
- Monument of Janusz Korczak and his children – the Świętokrzyski Park – approx. 0.5 hours
- Jewish Historical Institute – with an exhibition presenting the Warsaw Ghetto Archive – about 1 hour
- Museum of the History of Polish Jews – Polin – approx. 2-2.5 hours
- Jewish cemetery – about 1 hour
- Nożyk Synagnogue – approx. 1 hour
Admission tickets are required for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, the Jewish Historical Institute, the Nożyk Synagogue and the Jewish cemetery.
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