Page 17 - Centrum Dialogu im. Marka Edelmana. Edelman. The Man

The Third German Reich attacked Poland on 1 September,
1939. After several weeks of defence, the German
occupation began. Persecutions included nearly all citizens,
but the strongest violence was directed towards the Jewish
population. No one had supposed, however, that a ruthless
annihilation of Jews could take place in the heart of
civilised Europe.

Before the war, there were over 3,5 million Jewish
inhabitants in the territory of Poland. By comparison, the
number of Jewish citizens was 565,000 in Germany and
225,000 in France (the same as in pre-war Łódź). In 1939,
there were approximately 380,000 Jews living in Warsaw
(over 31% of the city’s population). From the very start of
the war, the Germans implemented their policy of excluding
Jews from social life; they announced restrictive orders
and repressions, requisitioned Jewish property, forced the
Jews to perform humiliating jobs and persecuted them.
Soon, the Jewish residents were forced to move to specially
established districts. The ghetto in Warsaw, created in
October 1940, was closed and sealed off from the rest of
the city on 16 November 1940. Over 460,000 people had
been brought into the ghetto by March 1941.