On This Day: Warsaw Ghetto Sealed Shut

In the first year of World War II, the Germans gradually occupied Poland. When they captured the city of Warsaw, the Nazis established the "Judenrat" - a Jewish Council tasked with executing the army's orders concerning the city.

Towards the end of 1940, the Warsaw Ghetto began to be established, as the Nazis decided that Jews should have a designated living area in the city, ostensibly as a precaution against the typhus epidemic. In reality, the ghetto was set up immediately after Yom Kippur of 1941, occupying just 2% of Warsaw's area, despite Jews comprising about 38% of the city's population. The ghetto was enclosed by a high wall, and Jews were permitted to live only within it.

In the initial weeks, Jews were still allowed to enter and exit the ghetto freely, and the Gestapo informed the Judenrat that Jews did not need to move their businesses into the ghetto, as they were still permitted to leave for work. However, very soon, on the 14th of Cheshvan 1942, the ghetto's walls were sealed, and except for a few Jews with special permits or whom the Nazis required for specific services, no residents were allowed to leave or enter.

The sealing of the ghetto walls led to extreme overcrowding, severe hunger, and rampant diseases. Nonetheless, over the ensuing months, the Jews established internal institutions within the ghetto, including classrooms, charity organizations, hospitals, and even an underground medical school.

The complete lockdown of the ghetto lasted about a year, until the Great Deportation, during which many ghetto inhabitants were killed, and others were sent to extermination camps.