Ghetto and Jewish Life, Warsaw

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As I walked from the Umschlagplatz to the Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto, I was in search of the 16 granite blocks that make up the Path of Remembrance, also referred to as the Trail of Jewish Martyrdom and Struggle. For some reason, I thought they were small blocks built into the sidewalk so imagine my surprise when I came across the first one and saw how big it was – it came to at least my waist in height.

Each one of the blocks has inscriptions in three languages (Yiddish, Hebrew, and Polish) and remembers the more than 450,000 Jewish people that were killed in the Ghetto during 1940-43. They link the two memorials along the streets ul. Stawki and ul. Zamenhofa.

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This monument is to the people who died during the 1943 Ghetto Uprising and has displays on both sides of the memorial. On one side a relief called “The Fight” are men, women, and children ready to go to battle. On the other side is a smaller relief that is called “March to Destruction” and shows women, children, and the elderly suffering. The monument reads “The Jewish People in honor of its fighters and martyrs.”

This was one of the first memorials erected in the city after its destruction – this one was built in 1948, just five years after the Ghetto Uprising.

The Path of Remembrance leads from this monument to the Umschlagplatz Monument– you can follow the 16 granite blocks between the two memorials.

They are currently (2011) building a new museum next to this monument – a museum to the Jewish people of Poland. It is supposed to be open by summer of 2012.

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When I travel it is NOT usual for me to visit cemetaries, but here in Warsaw I made an exception since I know so many families that live here in Israel that lost families in Warsaw.
Seeing things like the Janusza Korczaka Monument (you should really read about this guy - http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Korczak.html) and the children's memorial make you think on what extremes people are capable of, both for good and bad.
For more on the cemetary itself take a look at -http://www.warsaw-life.com/poland/jewish-cemetery
Or if you are looking for family members lost in the German holocaust, you may find help at-
http://cemetery.jewish.org.pl/lang_en/

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One of the saddest periods of time in Poland for the Jews, when the country that they lived in and loved as home was turned into a closed death camp for them in the center of an "enlightened city". Just walking around this now abandoned section of what is left of the old ghetto brought goosebumps and shivers.
I think what makes it even harder is when I realize that I have good friends in Poland and in Warsaw and think back to the world war and wonder what their families experienced then.
If you want to know more take a look at-
http://www.deathcamps.org/occupation/warsaw%20ghetto.html
http://www.warsaw-life.com/poland/warsaw-ghetto
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/uprising1.html

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Outside of the Ghetto, this monument marks the place where over 300 000 Jews embarked the trains to the death camps of Treblinka and Auschwitz in 1942 and 1943. It was not until 1988 when the monument, a work by Wladyslaw klamerus and Hanna Szmalenberg was unveiled. The monument has the resemblance of an open freight car, the kind of car which was used for the transportation to the death camps.
A monument directly linked to the Umschlagplatz Monument is the “Path of Remembrance”, a line of granite blocks linking the Umschlagplatz Monument with the Monument to the Heroes of the Warsaw Uprising.

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This is the only synagogue in Warsaw to have survived the war. Built from1898 on and funded by Zalman Nozyk, a merchant from a wealthy family, it became part of the so-called Small Ghetto during most of the occupation time. Back then, it only survived because it was used as a stable by the Nazis, although it was also damaged during the war. Right after the war, it was handed back to the diminished Jewish community of Warsaw. It was not until 1977 when reconstruction started and in 1983, the synagogue was reopened. Today, it is one of the focus points of Jewish life in Warsaw and seat of several Jewish organizations in Poland.

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The Bunker monument marks the spot where the leaders of the Warsaw uprising were discovered. Although it is commonly believed to be the last bunker to be discovered, it is only one of many which were destroyed on May 8th 1943. Fighting continued on other sites until May 16th. The stones have the names of the fighters of the Mila 18 bunker inscribed and state that this was the burial place of the leader, Mordechaj Anielewicz. That statement was never confirmed as it is still not clear what happened to the body of Anielewicz.
Today, the designations of the buildings at Mila street have slightly changed. Therefore, today's Mila 18 is not on the spot. However, the monument is and is hard to miss once you are in Mila street.

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Most remaining parts of the former Warsaw Ghetto Walls were pulled down in the years after the war, but two small traces survive in a backyard. Although they are well hidden, they are also well visited, with several official inscriptions commemorating the life and death of Warsaw's Jewish population.
Although the walls belong to the buildings at Ulica Siena 55, the entrance to the backyard of this building is usually closed. In that case, try either the entrance at Ulica Siena 59 or Ulica Zlota 62, the latter is usually open.