This map shows the boundaries of the Warsaw Ghetto, where , people were incarcerated. It was published by the Yiddish Scientific Institute in Hans Frank was the leader of the General Government. This was an area of Poland that was controlled by Germany after invasion in September This document is a translation used in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials.
The city had 1. This was the largest Jewish community in Europe at the time. The Nazis occupied Warsaw on 29 September , four weeks after invading Poland. The Jewish population in Warsaw had grown following orders from Heydrich to concentrate Jews in cities and towns, but a ghetto was not decreed until 12 October The ghetto was segregated from the rest of the population by a wall and sealed on 15 November Jewish policemen guarded the inside of the wall, and Nazi and Polish officers patrolled the outside.
Only those with special permits could leave the ghetto. Over , people were imprisoned. Once the ghetto had been sealed, food quickly became scarce. Here a woman is pictured shopping at the ghetto market. Due to the scarcity of food, smuggling became common.
To get food into the ghetto smugglers would scale the walls using ladders, use connecting buildings, the sewers, or workers who regularly entered and left the ghetto. Children suffered harsh circumstances in the Warsaw Ghetto. Here, two children are pictured huddling on the pavement. Conditions inside the Warsaw Ghetto were very poor. An average of over seven people shared each room. Whilst the Jewish Council administered the ghetto, they did so at the jurisdiction of the Nazis.
From the outset, rations for food were minimal and starvation was common. Rations were initially set at approximately calories a day β less than half of the daily recommended allowance for women calories per day and men calories per day. The rations consisted of bread, potatoes, and ersatz fat.
