At the end of the World War I Russian Jews were forced to live in the Pale of Settlement of Warsaw. In September 1939 Warsaw was again a Polish city, with a population of almost 375,000 Jews in the Old Town Warsaw. Soon that would change again on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, October 12, 1940 Nazis SS soldiers were ordered to set up “Jewish residential quarters.” Which meant they would have to move out 113,000 Christian residents. They systemically move in 138,000 Jews. A total of 450,000 Jews were living with unbelievable conditions. Divided into two sections Small Ghetto on the south end and Large Ghetto on the north end of the camp.
The inhabitants of the ghetto were forced to live on 180 grams of bread a day, 220 grams and kg. Of honey. Which led to the smuggling of food by the Jews for their survival. The smuggling took place through walls, gates, underground tunnels, sewer and houses on the borders of town. The Germans had tried desperately to cut the ghetto off from the rest of the world. The Government of Warsaw had imposed the death penalty for any Jews leaving the ghetto.
By September the Germans gave ghetto residents a deadline to moved. Himmler promised Hitler the Ghetto would be taken care of in three days. Facing the December deadline residents of the ghetto surprised the Germans, by fighting back rather than simply giving in and giving up.
Their resistance (ZOB) movement was led by twenty-three year old Mordecai Anielewicz. Seven hundred and fifty Armed fighters with only pistols, few automatic weapons man made bombs, Molotov cocktails, all of which had been smuggled into the ghetto over time. Held off the Germans soldiers for almost a month. Unfortunately, the Ghetto fighters were outnumbered and out matched by the Germans resources. By May 16,1943 the Jewish resistance fighters had lost the battle, More than 56,000 Jews were captured,7,000 were shot, with the reminder sent to death camps.
Himmler had promised Hitler the Ghetto would be taken in three days, instead it took four weeks three hundred Germans were killed and many more wounded. The Germans carried out round the clock raids that knocked out the power plants, flour mills and gas works. Then proceeded to burn the buildings one at a time. The capital had fallen, but definitely not without a fight. It was the largest slaughter of a single community in WW II.

Chelsie Beckwith 7^th Social Studies Rossville Jr. High Holocaust Project Spring 2003

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