The Warsaw Ghetto boundary markers are memorial plaques and boundary lines that mark the maximum perimeter of the former ghetto established by Nazi Germany in 1940 in occupied Warsaw, Poland. The markers were erected in 2008 and 2010 on 22 sites along the borders of the Jewish quarter, where from 1940–1943 stood the gates to the ghetto, wooden footbridges over Aryan streets, and the buildings important to the ghetto inmates.
Description and unveiling In order to preserve the memory of the perished Jewish quarter, the Jewish Historical Institute and the City Monument Protection office took the initiative to feature in the public space of the Polish capital its most characteristic points on its former boundaries. The markers were designed by Eleonora Bergman and Tomasz Lec in cooperation with Ewa Pustoła-Kozłowska and Jan Jagielski. Each marker consists of three elements:
a bronze plaque 60 cm by 70 cm (24 inches by 28 inches) with the map representing the ghetto’s farthest borders and the pre-war street network featured on the map of Warsaw, and a pin indicating the exact location of the marked place; a plaque made of acrylic glass 36 cm by 50 cm (12 inches by 20 inches) with information in Polish and English about the place, its role in the history of the ghetto and one or two historical photos, proceeded by a brief history of the Warsaw Ghetto: By order of the German occupation authorities, the ghetto was cut off from the rest of the city on November 16, 1940. The ghetto area, surrounded by a wall, was initially 307 hectares (759 acres); with time, it was reduced. Starting in January 1942, it was divided in two parts called the small and large ghettos. Approximately 360,000 Warsaw Jews and 90,000 from other towns were herded into the ghetto. Nearly 100,000 died of hunger. During the summer of 1942, the Germans deported and murdered close to 300,000 people in the gas chambers of Treblinka. On April 19, 1943, an uprising broke out in the ghetto. Until mid-May, fighters and civilians perished in combat or in the systematically burned ghetto buildings. The remaining population was murdered by Germans in November 1943 in the Majdanek, Poniatowa and Trawniki concentration camps. Only a few survived. To the memory of those who suffered, fought and perished. The City of Warsaw, 2008. cement strips 25 cm (10 inches) wide with the cast iron bilingual sign MUR GETTA 1940/GHETTO WALL 1943 placed in sidewalks and lawns showing the exact location of the ghetto walls. The dates 1940-1943 have symbolic meaning as the years when the Warsaw Ghetto existed. Therefore, they should not be treated literally because most of the commemorated places were excluded in 1941-1942, one site was included into the ghetto in 1941, and two – in 1942. Most plaques were placed on the 2.3 m (7.6 ft) tall cement posts that were specially designed on sett pavement; the rest were placed directly on the walls of the buildings and structures. The markers were built between April and November 2008 and were inaugurated on 19 November 2008 by the mayor of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz. On 27 January 2010 on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the 22nd marker was unveiled on site of the preserved ghetto wall in Sienna Street. The project was financed by the City of Warsaw and the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
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