Relics of the Warsaw Ghetto

On 16 May 1943, General Jürgen Stroop, who commanded the operation to liquidate the Warsaw Ghetto, in his report, wrote The Jewish residential district no longer exists.

In the months following the suppression of the ghetto uprising, whatever remained of the former Jewish district was systematically destroyed. Eventually, the area of the former ghetto was turned into a sea of ruins.

In January 1945, Władka Meed described what she saw as follows:

Somewhere around here was ul. Dzielna and, further on, Pawia, Gęsia and Nalewki. This place was once crowded and bustling with lots of merchants and craftsmen, with men in suits and long coats, with women in headscarves and hats, with young people and children. The streets pulsated with life and work. […] Nothing, nothing is left - only gaping, empty ruins. [Meed, W., Po obu stronach muru. Wspomnienia z getta warszawskiego, Warsaw 2003, p. 304.]

Wandering around the ghetto area at the same time, Michał Zylberberg wrote that "it was as quiet as a grave" [Zylberberg, M., A Warsaw Diary 1939–1942, London 1969, p. 211.]

"Like a grave" - because the ghetto had become a vast cemetery, and the rubble had become a mass grave for the thousands of people, who had perished here during the ghetto uprising. Is it possible that no trace remains of a district that, before 1939, was so densely built-up and full of life?

Some structures and the original street layout from the ghetto area - sections that were excluded from the ghetto in the summer of 1942 - have survived to this day. These include individual buildings on Sienna, Śliska (including the Bersohn and Bauman Hospital), Mariańska (the former Social Insurance Office building), Waliców, Chłodna, Żelazna and Ogrodowa streets.

By 1945, the area of what remained of the former ghetto had become a wasteland of rubble, with only a few recognisable landmarks - the Church of St. Augustine on ul. Nowolipki, the ruins of the Wołyńskie Barracks, and buildings on ul. Stawki, numbers 5/7 and 10.

After 1945, the decision was made to rebuild the devastated area of the former ghetto. Between 1949 and 1957, southern Muranów was developed. Buildings were constructed on the mounds of rubble, and distinctive elevations were formed in the green spaces. Some of the debris was crushed and turned into rubble concrete blocks, which were used as building material for new housing.

In the following years, residential estates were built in northern Muranów and, finally, in Western Muranów.

It should be remembered that the current streets in this area do not always correspond to the old ones, especially in the most heavily destroyed parts. The following streets no longer exist in the urban fabric: Sochaczewska, Gliniana, Szczęśliwa, Kupiecka, Pokorna, Przebieg, Lubeckiego, and Solna. Also gone are the streets characteristic of the former Jewish district, such as Nalewki (only a fragment remains between Arsenał and Krasiński Garden, now called Stare Nalewki) and Muranowski Square.

Instead, new streets have been created, such as Andersa and Jan Paweł II. Many streets have also changed their route. For example, ul. Karmelicka no longer reaches the former Leszno (al. Solidarności), but it has been extended to ul. Stawki. ul. Zamenhofa, which once branched slightly left off ul. Pawia and ran to the junction of ul. Niska, Dzika, and Stawki, now follows a straight route.

The current ul. Anielewicza essentially follows the route of the former ul. Gęsia. But near the square next to the POLIN Museum, we can see elements indicating that its original route was shifted slightly to the north. In the lawn, drainage grates are visible, showing that there used to be a street there. It is a similar situation with the route of ul. Zamenhofa, from ul. Pawia. Occasionally, such grates can also be found in the pavement, as is the case on al. Jana Pawła, at the junction with ul. Niska.

At ul. Niska, another exceptional trace of the past can still be found - a bullet mark preserved in the fence surrounding the area near the building at Stawki 5/7, on the Niska side. During World War II, the SS headquarters was located at Stawki 5/7. The southern side of ul. Niska was densely built up and, during the ghetto uprising, the Germans mercilessly set buildings on fire, trying to purge out the Jews hiding inside. Some of them jumped out of windows, which was documented in photographs contained in General Stroop’s report. It is very likely that the bullet mark dates back to that time.

From beneath the built-up area of the former ghetto, traces of the past occasionally “emerge”. Whether during routine waterpipe replacements or excavation work for new buildings, one can come across bricks, foundations or even fragments of walls from the old buildings.

For this reason, in the autumn of 2021, by virtue of Ordinance No. 1667/2021 issued by the Mayor of Warsaw on 1 October 2021, the area of the former ghetto was placed under archaeological protection. The rationale was that during earthworks, “material evidence of the tragic events related to the functioning of the ghetto, the culture of the Jewish population and the dramatic incidents from the period of German occupation during World War II”

was repeatedly discovered and destroyed. This happened even though the finders of such artifacts are obliged to secure the discoveries and inform the conservator.

The Warsaw Ghetto was established in a lively district inhabited by nearly 250,000 Jews. As early as April 1940, the Germans ordered that the area be enclosed by a wall, designating it as an epidemic hazard zone. Due to war damage, fragments of this wall have survived in only a few locations:

The courtyard of the tenement at ul. Złota 62 - during the war, the pre-war wall served as part of the ghetto wall. Thanks to the efforts of Mieczysław Jędruszczak, this site was entered into the register of historic monuments in 1989, and commemorative plaques were placed on the wall.
The courtyard of the property at ul. Sienna 55 - a fragment of the original ghetto wall, erected during World War II. Thanks to the efforts of Mieczysław Jędruszczak, this site was entered into the register of historic monuments in 1989, and commemorative plaques were placed on the wall.
The backyard of the Parish House at ul. Chłodna 9 - a fragment of the ghetto wall which now serves as an external wall of the building. This site has not been commemorated.
Ul.Okopowa 78 - a fragment of the wall surrounding the buildings of the Temler and Szwede Tannery (on the petrol station side) served as part of the ghetto wall throughout its entire existence.
The building at ul. Stawki 10 (currently the Secondary and Economic Schools Complex) - at its rear, a fragment of the ghetto wall has been preserved, marking the boundary of the Umschlagplatz. After cleaning the bricks, the wall was reconstructed in 2014.
A fragment of the wall at ul. Świętojerska 13, on the corner of ul. Nowiniarska (near the driveway of the parking lot behind the Supreme Court).

The walls of buildings, that had already been standing, were also used to mark the boundary between the ghetto and the "Aryan side". They included:

The building at ul. Waliców 11 – during World War II, the building’s wall played its part in the ghetto wall.
The wall of the Jewish cemetery on ul. Okopow - from 1940 to December 1941, its northern section along Okopowa, as well as the section along Młynarska, Smętna, and Spokojna streets, served as part of the ghetto wall.
The court building at al. Solidarności 127 (formerly Leszno 53/55) – its side wall and walls of the interior courtyards marked the boundary of the ghetto from November 1940 to August 1842.
The tenement at ul. Chłodna 41 – from November 1940 to December 1941, the side wall of this tenement formed part of the boundary of the small ghetto, at the rear of the property ay ul Wronia 56.
The tenement at ul.Krochmalna 4 (formerly 28)- from November 1940 to December 1941, the side wall of this tenement formed part of the boundary of the small ghetto.
The tenement at ul.Ogrodowa 55 – from November 1940 to December 1941, the side wall of this tenement formed part of the boundary of the small ghetto, at the rear of the property ay ul Wronia 66.

Between 2008 and 2010, twenty-two memorials were unveiled in Warsaw to commemorate the route of the ghetto wall. Each memorial consists of a plaque, engraved with the outline of the ghetto and a long, embedded strip in the pavement bearing the inscription “Mur getta / Ghetto wall 1940–1943”. The project was designed by Eleonora Bergman and Tomasz Lec. The memorials were placed at the following locations:

ul. Przebieg - at the intersection with ul. Bonifraterska and ul. Żoliborska – the north-eastern corner of the ghetto.
ul. Freta - at the intersection with ul. Franciszkańska – the eastern edge of the northern part of the ghetto.
ul. Nowiniarska zbehind the court building – a small fragment of the ghetto wall has been preserved here. The area of the Nowe Miasto (New Twon), from ul. Bonifraterska eastward, was excluded from the ghetto in December 1941.
The former ul. Nalewki (now Stare Nalewki), at the intersection of ul. Świętojerska – this was one of the entrances to the ghetto. Here, at dawn on 19 April 1943, SS units entered in order to suppress the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
ul. Leszno 76.
ul. Bielańska opposite Bank Polski.
ul. Biała (circa 1950, moved about 200 metres west).
ul. Chłodna, near ul. Żelazna – close to the former footbridge connecting the ”big” and “small” ghettos.
plac Mirowski – the northern boundary of the “small ghetto” ran along here
plac Żelaznej Bramy.
ul. Świętokrzyska near ul. Zielna.
Pałac Kultury i Nauk, on the ul. Marszałkowska side – was the south-eastern corner of the ghetto.
ul. Twarda at the corner of ul. Żelazna – the southerrn corner of the ghetto was here and, until 20 January 1941, was a gate to the ghetto.
ul. Grzybowska near ul. Żelazna – formerly one of the gates of the ghetto.
ul. Chłodna near ul. Wronia – here, from 15 November 1940 to 18 November 1941, was an entrance to the ghetto.
ul. Żelazna near ul. Leszno.
ul. Młynarska near the wall of the Jewish Cemetery.
ul. Okopowa, the north-eastern corner of the Jewish Cemetery.
ul. Okopowa, at the end of ul. Stawki.
ul. Dzika in the area of al. Jana Pawła II – this was the north-western corner of the ghetto.
ul. Dzika near ul. Stawki – here, from Januay 1942, was a ghetto gate.
ul. Sienna 53 – a fragment of the wall is in the H. Sienkiewicz XII Lyceum (High School).