Former Jewish Ghetto District in Warsaw - Nalewki

Before World War II, the northwest part of the city centre of Warsaw comprised a large and mainly Jewish district known as Nalewki. Warsaw's Jewish population was then about 450,000, the largest after New York. In 1940 the Nazis turned Nalewki into the Jewish Ghetto and by 1942 over 300,000 people had been transported to death camps. A further 100,000 died or were killed in the Ghetto.

Following the Ghetto Uprising in 1943, Nalewki was completely razed to the ground by he Nazis. In the postwar years, redevelopment transformed the area into housing estates, while today, the Monument of the Ghetto Heroes is just one of the many important memorials to those that perished.

Monuments in the former Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw

Bunker Monument in the former Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw

Between the streets of Mila and Niska, a small mound and boulder commemorate the bunker in which Mordechaj Anielwicz (1917-1943) led the Uprising in the Ghetto. He blew up the bunker, committing suicide.

Monument to he Ghetto Heroes in the former Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw

Erected in 1948 when the city of Warsaw still lay in ruins, this monument was created by the sculptor Natan Rapaport and the architect Marek Suzin. The work symbolizes the heroic defiance of the Ghetto Uprising in 1943, which was planned, not as a bid for liberty, but as an honourable way to die. Reliefs carved on to the monument depict men, woman and children struggling to flee the burning ghetto, together with a procession of Jews being driven to death camps under the threat of Nazi bayonets.The monument was created from labradorie stone, quarried in Sweden. It is the stone that the Nazis intended to use for victory monuments in the countries that they conquered.

Umschlagplatz Monument in the former Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw

The Umschlagplaz Monument was completed in 1988, on the site of a former railway siding (called Umschlagplatz) where Jews were loaded on to cattle cars and sent to almost certain death in the concentration camps. The monument was a collaboration between the architect Hanna Szmalenberg and the sculptor Wladyslaw Klamerus. The names of hundreds of people from the ghetto are inscribed on to the surface of the monument, including Janusz Korczak and his group of Jewish orphans.

Theatres in the former Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw

Jewish National Theatre in the former Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw

Performing plays steeped in Jewish traditions, the Jewish National Theatre was founded in Lodz in 1949, when that city's theatre merged with another Jewish theatre company in Poland from Lower Selesia. The company moved to Warsaw in 1955, and this building dates from 1970. Performances are in Yiddish, with translations into Polish. The theatre also runs a Mime Theatre and actor's studio.

Warsaw Chamber Opera in the former Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw

Originally built as a Protestant church between 1770-1780, this building now houses the Warsaw Chamber Opera. It is also the venue that hosts an annual Mozart Festival held at the end of June and beginning of July. Designed by Szymon Bogumil Zug, the church was founded by the inhabitants of Leszno, a small town established and owned by the aristocratic Leszczynski family. Leszno was originally home to settlers from Germany who came to Poland ,who managed to maintain their Protestant faith.

Museums in the former Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw

Jewish History Institute in the former Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw

The Jewish History Institute's Neo-Classical building was designed by renowned architect Edward Eber and was completed in 1936. When designing this building, Eber aimed to harmonize the façade with that of the neighbouring Great Synagogue (which was destroyed by the Nazis seven years later). The building served as both the Judaic Library and the Judaic History Institute. One of the Judaic History Institute's lecturers was the outstanding historian Dr Majer Balaban.

Norblin Factory in the former Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw

Currently housing the Industry Museum, part of the Museum of Technology, this was formerly the Norblin, Buch Bros & T Werner Joint Stock Co, which was renowned for producing silver and silver-plated items, sheet metal and wire.

The museum comprises the original production halls, complete with equipment used there, such as stamping presses and forging machines. Additional temporary exhibitions illustrate the intriguing history of the Norblin plant, and the evolution of the motorcycle. This includes a pre-war Sokol (Falcon) motorcycle, which the majority of connoisseurs put on a par with the Harley-Davidson.