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WWII Begins
German Nazis invade Poland. Attacks and bombings begin on the capital city, Warsaw. -
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Polish Jews are systematically stripped of rights
Jewish males between the ages of 14 and 60 are registered for forced labor by German authorities. All Jews are required to wear white armbands with a blue Star of David to be easily identified. By January 1940, Jews are forbidden from public places like restaurants, theatres, parks, etc. as well as public transportation, and are required to post signs identifying their shops. This is followed by the confiscation of all assets. The practice of Jewish religion is strictly forbidden. -
Warsaw Ghetto Officially Established
All Jewish residents of Warsaw are ordered into the ghetto, and 140,000 Poles are directed to move out. Nazis guard ghetto boundaries to prevent movement in and out of Warsaw. The ghetto population increases as thousands of additional Jews are evicted from neighboring towns and cities. Food and medical supplies are rationed in amounts that are intentionally inadequate, with an ultimate goal of killing off the Jewish population by hunger and disease -
Walls are constructed and ghetto is sealed off. All Jewish civil liberties suspended
Walls are built 10-12 feet high, stretch over 11 miles, and are topped with barbed wire. Travel between the Aryan side and ghetto are cut off, and newspapers from the outside are prohibited so as to shield redidents from headlines of the holocaust spreading throughout Europe. All possibilities of work vanish, and the Jews plunge into poverty. As the population grows, the situation becomes dire as hundreds then thousands begin dying from malnutrition and illness. -
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Starvation and disease yield high mortality rate
As populations continue to skyrocket, roughly 5,0000-6,000 people die each month from starvation and disease. Food allotments rationed to the ghetto by German authorities are intentionally insufficient to sustain life. Widespread smuggling of foods such as bread (which Jews are forbidden to bake) and medicines are crucial, supplement the meager rations, and keeping the death rate from increasing even further. -
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Nazi occupation spreads throughout Europe
As Nazi forces spread through Europe into Soviet and Ukrainian territories, mass extermination practices began popping up in areas of dense Jewish populations. In September, Nazi forces murder 33,771 Jewish civilians at Babi Yar, a ravine in Kiev. In Odessa, 35,000 Jews are shot and tens of thousands perish in rapid killings throughout occupied Europe. While news of killings like these reached Warsaw, most accounts were dismissed as false. -
America declares war on Germany
“Never before has there been a greater challenge to life, liberty, and civilization.” - Theodore Roosevelt -
News of Chelmno mass murders reach Warsaw, foreign press broadcasts to disbelieving world
Yaakov Grojanowski escapes Chelmno extermination camp, where 10,000 have been murdered in January alone. He warns ghetto leadership of the experiences at the camp. Organized resistance groups believe this report, but the Warsaw Ghetto does not; general population can't fathom they could be killed in such a systematic, state-sponsored campaign of persecution. Resistance members undertake major propaganda activities to warn the ghetto of danger. -
First of four mass deportations to Treblinka extermination camp
In four phases from July 22 to September 1942, more than 265,000 Jews are forced to the Umshlagplatz (deportation point) in the ghetto, sent to “forced labor camps" in crowded trains, and murdered in gas chambers upon arrival. Nazi posters offer bread and jam to those who report, which fuel rumors that the Jews are indeed going to labor camps. Germans demand that members of the Jewish Council help round up thousands of Jews per day for deportation. -
Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB) is established
Stories of mass murders at Treblinka get back to the ghetto. In response, underground political youth movements unite to form an armed group known as the Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB). The ZOB has an estimated 500 members, both women and men, carefully vetted to avoid potential informers. Most are under 25, the youngest being thirteen. Under the command of 23-year old Mordechai Anielewicz, the ZOB calls for Jews to resist deportation and establish conact with Polish resistance forces. -
Final phase of mass deportations
Mass deportation enters its final phase. Between July and September, Germans deport at least 300,000 Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto. Nearly 35,000 essential workers stay in the ghetto and around another 25,000 Jews remain in hiding illegally. For the last residents, deportation seems inevitable. Despite the horrific conditions and the Nazis’ attempt to control and degrade them through oppression, the Jewish people strive to maintain dignity through secret study and prayer. -
Jewish resistance sparks liquidation of the ghetto
On a final deportation attempt, SS chief Heinrich Himmler orders the deportation of 8,000 more Jews to Treblinka. On this occasion, however, the Jewish population resists commands, and choose to fight back against soldiers. Stories of resistance spread and inspire those that remain to resist Nazi orders at all costs. They ultimately murder over 1,000 Jews in retaliation, but suspend further deportations after four days of combat. The ghetto is ordered to be torn down. -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising, largest Jewish revolt of the Holocaust
On the eve of Passover, 2,000 German troops under the command of SS General Jurgen Stroop storm the ghetto to renew deportations. Armed with few pistols, grenades, fire bombs, and zero training, Jewish resistance fights back. Organized attacks at street intersections and from rooftops and attics of surrounding houses to limit resistance casualties cause a Nazi retreat. The ghetto is set on fire block by block to burn out survivors, and many Jews perish refusing to give in. -
Germans destroy Warsaw Ghetto and blow up synagogue, declare end to uprising
After 27 days of fighting, the Germans blow up the Tlomacki Synagogue in Warsaw to signal the destruction of the ghetto and the end to the uprising. In all, 56,065 Jews are captured: 5,000-6,000 are killed in the fighting and fires, more than 7,000 are shot, and nearly 7,000 are deported to Treblinka. However the uprising sets a heroic precedent, and becomes a symbol of Jewish resistance for much of the war.
