About

The first references to the presence of Jews in Warsaw date back to the early 15th century. According to entries in Warsaw’s municipal records from 1421, ten Jews lived in the city at that time.

The history of Jewish self-governance in Warsaw began in the late 18th century. At that time, the de non tolerandis Judaeis privilege was still in force, prohibiting Jews from living within the city and owning property. As a result, they settled outside Warsaw’s boundaries, mainly in Praga.

In 1799, Jews received permission to establish a community, which marked the beginning of the development of Jewish life in Warsaw. In the second half of the 19th century, Jews were granted civil rights and restrictions on settlement and property ownership were lifted. In 1864, 72,000 Jews lived in Warsaw, constituting 33% of the city’s population. In the 1920s and 1930s, Warsaw became one of the most important centers of Jewish cultural life.

After the outbreak of World War II, Adam Czerniaków became head of the Warsaw Jewish community, appointed to the position on September 23, 1939, by Warsaw’s mayor, Stefan Starzyński. In October 1939, following the establishment of the Judenrat (the Jewish Council) by the Germans, Czerniaków also became its chairman.

At that time, nearly 360,000 Jews lived in Warsaw, and thousands more arrived from territories annexed to the Reich. The Germans gradually restricted the rights of the Jewish population: they introduced the obligation to wear armbands with the Star of David, closed synagogues, banned collective prayers in private homes, and prohibited Jews from entering designated parts of the city.

On October 12, 1940, the governor of the Warsaw District, Ludwig Fischer, issued an order to establish a ghetto in Warsaw and required all Jews in the city to relocate there. On November 16, 1940, the ghetto was sealed.

The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest ghetto in German-occupied Europe. In April 1941, approximately 450,000 Jews lived there. Thousands died from hunger and disease or perished during deportation actions. Between July 22 and September 21, 1942, more than 275,000 Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto were deported and murdered. Only about 35,000 remained in the city. Some of them were active in Jewish resistance organizations and, on April 19, 1943, when German forces entered the ghetto to liquidate it, they resisted. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising broke out and lasted until May 16, 1943. On that day, the Germans blew up the Great Synagogue on Tłomackie Street, symbolically confirming the suppression of the uprising and the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Only a small number of Warsaw Jews survived the Holocaust. In 1946, the Jewish population of Warsaw numbered approximately 18,000. In August of that year, the Religious Union of the Mosaic Faith in Poland was established to meet the religious needs of Jews. Its activities were gradually restricted, and membership declined due to successive waves of emigration. By the early 1970s, the number of Jews in Warsaw had decreased to around 2,000. Some continued to maintain religious life and engage in social and cultural activities, preserving Jewish heritage.

Today’s Jewish Community of Warsaw is the moral and legal successor to the pre-war Jewish communities. It was reactivated by the Act on the Relationship between the State and Jewish Religious Communities in the Republic of Poland of February 20, 1997, which entered into force on May 11, 1997. In 2006, the Jewish community in Poland adopted its Internal Law. These two documents form the legal basis for the functioning of contemporary Jewish communities in Poland.

The Jewish Community of Warsaw is the primary organization of the Warsaw Jewish community and is part of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland. The Warsaw community, together with its branch in Lublin, is the largest member of this Union.

Membership in the Community is open to anyone who, under the Law of Return, is eligible to apply for Israeli citizenship (provided that at least one grandparent was Jewish), as well as to individuals who have undergone conversion to Judaism conducted by one of the Community’s rabbis.

The Jewish Community of Warsaw has more than 700 adult members, including young people and seniors, working professionals and retirees, religious and non-religious individuals. Anyone wishing to be part of the Warsaw Jewish community and contribute to its life will find a place in the Community. The Community offers a wide range of social, cultural, and educational programs and provides support to those in need.

The Community operates the Orthodox Nożyk Synagogue, named after Zalman and Rywka Nożyk — the only synagogue in Warsaw to survive World War II — as well as the progressive Ec Chaim synagogue and the synagogue at Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin. The Community employs three rabbis: Michael Schudrich (Chief Rabbi of Poland since 2004), Stas Wojciechowicz, and Małgorzata Kordowicz. Additionally, Rabbis Icchak Rapoport and Dawid Szychowski serve at the Nożyk Synagogue.

The Community also maintains, among others, a mikveh, the Chevra Kadisha burial society, a Senior Club, the “Bejtejnu” Community Club, the Ec Chaim Shabbat School, as well as a kosher shop and a kosher cafeteria. The Community also supports Jewish education by funding scholarships for children of Community members attending the Lauder-Morasha Private Primary School in Warsaw.