2008 Poland 20zl Silver Proof "Warsaw Ghetto"

• Mint: Polish Mint
• Denomination: 20 Zloty
• Quality: Proof
• Issue limit: 145,000 pcs.
• Alloy: 92.5% Sterling Silver
• Diameter: 38.61 mm
• Weight: 28.28 grams
• Obverse Design: Urszula Walerzak
• Reverse Design: Urszula Walerzak
• Box/Capsule: No/Yes
• Certificate: No

Additional Information

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Issued on April 15, this issue honors the 65th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest Jewish ghetto in any German-occupied country in Nazi-occupied Europe. The ghetto was split into two areas, the "small ghetto", generally inhabited by richer Jews and the "large ghetto", where conditions were more difficult. The two ghettos were linked by a single footbridge. The Nazis then closed the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world on November 16, 1940, by building a wall and deploying armed guards. On January 18, 1943, the first instance of armed resistance occurred when the Germans started the final expulsion of the remaining Jews. The Jewish fighters had some success: the expulsion stopped after four days and the ŻOB and ŻZW resistance organizations took control of the Ghetto, building shelters and fighting posts and operating against Jewish collaborators. The final battle started on the eve of Passover of April 19, 1943, when a Nazi force consisting of several thousand troops entered the ghetto. After initial setbacks, the Germans systematically burned and blew up the ghetto buildings, block by block, rounding up or killed anybody they could capture. Significant resistance ended on April 23, and the Nazi operation officially ended in mid-May, symbolically culminated with the demolition of the Great Synagogue of Warsaw on May 16. According to the official report, at least 56,065 people were killed on the spot or deported to German Nazi concentration and death camps, most of them to Treblinka.

During the Warsaw Uprising more than 85% of Warsaw's historic center was destroyed by Nazi troops. After the war, a five-year reconstruction campaign by its citizens resulted in today's meticulous restoration of the Old Town, with its churches, palaces and market-place. Since 1980, the Historic Center of Warsaw has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.