The Warsaw ghetto was sealed with 380,000 Jews trapped inside On ThisDay 16 November 1940.

The Warsaw ghetto was sealed with 380,000 Jews trapped inside On ThisDay 16 November 1940.

The Warsaw ghetto was sealed with 380,000 Jews trapped inside On ThisDay 16 November 1940. Surrounded by walls that they built with their own hands under strict and violent guard, the Jews of Warsaw were now cut off from the outside world. 

The living conditions were unbearable, and the ghetto was extremely overcrowded. On average, between 6-7 people lived in one room and the daily food rations were the equivalent of one-tenth of the required minimum daily calorie intake. After the ghetto was sealed, masses of Jewish refugees were continuously transported to Warsaw bringing the ghetto population up to 450,000.

In less than 3 years, over 80,000 Jews died as a result of the appalling conditions, overcrowding, and starvation in the Warsaw ghetto. Another 250,000+ Jews were deported to the Treblinka death camp and murdered.

Nonetheless, the walls of the ghetto could not silence the cultural activity of its inhabitants. Despite the appalling living conditions in the ghetto, artists and intellectuals continued their creative endeavors.