At the invitation of Polish President Andrzej Duda, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is the first German guest of state to give a commemorative speech at the monument to the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto. Israel’s President Isaac Herzog is also present at the official commemoration of the beginning of the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto. He too will make a speech and lay a wreath.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The National Socialists had rounded up the Jewish population of Warsaw and people from other parts of Poland and Germany here. Around 450,000 people were trapped in a very small space, forced to do forced labor or deported to extermination and labor camps.
When SS units marched into the ghetto on April 19, 1943, the Jewish prisoners resisted their deportation and the superior strength of the German units. Although they were only weakly armed and completely outnumbered militarily, it took the SS almost four weeks to finally put down the uprising. During the fighting, which lasted until mid-May, more than 56,000 Jews were killed or deported to concentration and extermination camps.