People Still Report Hearing the Ghosts of Those Who Passed
The story of Muranów Neighborhood in Warsaw, Also known as the Jewish Ghetto
In 2020, I had just moved to Warsaw for work.
Due to its proximity to my workplace, I chose to live in a Soviet building with highway-long hallways and apartments all looking alike.
During the day, it was easy to forget or overlook the semi-dystopian scenario of my neighborhood characterized by a multitude of Soviet buildings, each one copy-pasted next to another.
However, on cold Polish nights, the landscape took on a rather sketchy appearance.
There hardly ever was a soul in sight and the neon glow of the 24-hour alcohol shop stood as the sole spark of light in the otherwise dark surroundings.
After a few months in Warsaw, I decided to watch a documentary at the cinema.
The film was titled after a neighborhood adjacent to mine — ‘MURANOW.’
I’ve always enjoyed learning about the history of the places I live. However, I never anticipated that the story of the place where I walked daily would be so dramatic.
In other words, it was hard to imagine that the Muranów neighborhood, where I had only noticed the broad roads and Soviet-style squared blocks, was once a multicultural, flourishing, and densely populated center of Jewish life.
In the interwar period (1918–1939), around 90% of the population in Muranów was Jewish or of Jewish descent.
For this reason, during World War II the neighborhood was turned into the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazi presence in the city and Jews residing in other districts of the city were forced to move there.
In November 1940, Muranów was separated from the rest of the city by a 3-meter (9.8 ft) brick wall topped with barbed wire.
As you walked along the perimeter of the now-demolished wall, cement writings marked its past presence.
Approximately 92,000 individuals died in the ghetto as a result of disease, starvation and executions during the war.
The majority was sent to the extermination camp at Treblinka and some to Majdanek.
However, in a spark of rebellious spirit, in April 1943, the Jews decided to resist the Germans’ attempts to send the remaining ghetto population to extermination camps.
They had smuggled weapons and explosives into the ghetto and had begun to train.
When the moment arrived to be transported to the camps, they chose not to surrender to the SS but to fight back.
They knew they stood little chance against the SS units, and the chances of survival were minimal. However, if they had to die, at least they could choose where to do so.
And so it happened.
In response to their disobedience, the SS units ordered the destruction of the ghetto, block by block.
A total of 13,000 Jews were killed.
This act of resistance by the Jews is now known as the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and was the largest single revolt by Jews during World War II.
After the war ended, the community reconstructed itself using the remnants of its own devastation.
Today, Muranów is inhabited by thousands of Polish residents who enjoy its spacious surroundings.
However, much like I sensed when I first moved in the area for work, the darkness and silence of its streets hide the opposite of a peaceful outlook.
The shadow of its somber history continues, in fact, to linger, as some inhabitants report that the neighborhood is haunted by the tormented spirits of Jewish residents from the past.
This story was part of the November Monthly Challenge — Gray. I’m grateful for it as it allowed me to revisit my time in Warsaw and tell the story of a neighborhood that, while laden with weight, carries a profound sense of pride.
As part of the challenge, I will share the article of KL Simmons. With her words, she first managed to make me crave a cozy rainy day, despite my being an all-time sunny-day person, and second, she reminded me how frequently (my partner and) I talk about moving to Florida whenever we find ourselves in a freezing NYC during the winter.
I would also like to share the article of Jody Lynn McBrien due to her important work with refugee populations. As someone who also worked in the same field in the past, I admire the amount of experiences and stories she presents in the article, as well as the reminder to keep in mind fundamental documents, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at all times.
