The Warsaw Ghetto: Anti-Semitic Decrees Against the Jews of Warsaw
(October 1939 - November 1940)
1939 | |
October 12 | Jews cannot withdraw deposits, securities, cash or gold from the banks, and are limited to withdrawals of 200 zlotys per week. A Jewish family cannot possess more than 2,000 zlotys in cash. |
October 21 | Jews may not deal in textiles or processed leathers. |
October 22 | Jews may not own radios or enter movie theaters. Jewish teachers may not teach in Polish schools. |
November 15 | Jewish women may not engage in prostitution. |
November 17 | A curfew imposed on all Jews in Warsaw from five o'clock. |
December 1 | Jews from the age of 12 must wear an armband with a blue Star of David. A Star of David must be pasted on all Jewish-owned stores. |
December 3 | Jews may not enter the central post office. |
December 5 | All Jewish schools and educational institutions are closed. |
December 22 | Jews may not use Polish porters and may not own telephones. |
December 23 | All Jews must declare all the property in their possession or ownership. |
1940 | |
January 14 | All Jews between the ages of 12 and 60 are sent to camps for re-education. |
January 24 | All synagogues and houses of worship in Warsaw are closed. |
February 10 | Jews may not travel by train between cities in Poland. |
April 7 | Jews may not open bookstores. |
July 6 | Jews may not mail letters abroad. |
July 8 | All Jewish-owned printing shops are closed. |
July 29 | Jews may not enter parks, municipal areas and specified streets in the center of Warsaw and may not sit on public benches. |
August 22 | Jewish peddlers and merchants may not purchase goods in neighboring villages. |
August 27 | Jews may not own bakeries or coaches. |
August 29 | Jews may not buy a German book. |
September 6 | Pilsudski Square is renamed Hitler Square and is off-limits to Jews. |
September 19 | Jewish doctors may not treat Polish patients and Polish doctors may not treat Jewish patients. |
September 25 | Jews may only ride in trolleys bearing the Star of David. |
October 4 | Polish maids may not work in Jewish homes. |
October 10 | Jews must step off the sidewalk upon seeing a uniformed or civilian German. |
October 31 | A monthly tax of five zlotys is imposed on Jews using trolleys. |
November 15 | All Jews in Warsaw are transferred to the ghetto. |
November 19 | All Jewish property found outside the ghetto walls is confiscated. |
Sources: Dor, Danny, Ed. Brave and Desperate. Israel: Ghetto Fighters' House Museum, 2003.