Poland, 1933. The city of Warsaw is the capital of Poland. Before World War II, Warsaw was the center of Jewish life and culture in Poland. Warsaw’s prewar Jewish population of more than 350,000 constituted about 30 percent of the city’s total population. The Warsaw Jewish community was the largest in both Poland and Europe, and was the second largest in the world, behind that of New York City. The Germans occupied Warsaw on September 29, 1939. In October 1940, the Germans ordered the establishment of a ghetto in Warsaw. All Jewish residents were ordered into the designated area, which was sealed off from the rest of the city in November 1940. The ghetto was enclosed by a wall that was over 10 feet high, topped with barbed wire, and closely guarded to prevent movement between the ghetto and the rest of Warsaw.
Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/gallery/warsaw-maps Accessed August 2, 2025.
Warsaw ghetto, 1940. Note: Edna was born at Mila 18, an address on Mila Street that would later house the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising command bunker. Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/gallery/warsaw-maps Accessed August 2, 2025.
Deportations to the Warsaw ghetto, 1941-1942. Shows the forced movement of Jewish populations from surrounding towns into Warsaw, concentrating nearly 400,000 Jews into the ghetto—over 30% of Warsaw’s total population crammed into 2.4% of the city’s area. The inset details specific towns from which Jews were deported to Warsaw. Born at Mila 18, Edna survived the ghetto period by evading Hitler’s Final Solution—the systematic deportations to death camps that emptied the ghetto by 1943. Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/gallery/warsaw-maps Accessed August 2, 2025.
Deportations from the Warsaw ghetto, 1942. This map shows the routes from assembly points to the Umschlagplatz, where Jews were loaded onto trains bound for Treblinka death camp. Over 265,000 Warsaw Jews were deported during the summer of 1942 alone. Many of Edna’s family members were among those deported to Treblinka. Born at Mila Street (visible on map), Edna evaded these deportations, ultimately surviving the war. Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/gallery/warsaw-maps Accessed August 2, 2025.
The Warsaw ghetto uprising, 1943. This map shows the reduced ghetto area and key locations during the April-May uprising. The ZOB (Jewish Fighting Organization) headquarters (#11) was located at Mila 18—Edna’s birthplace. Having assumed a Polish Catholic identity to survive on the Aryan side, Edna witnessed as the Nazis systematically burned the ghetto to crush the uprising, destroying the neighborhood where she was born. Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/gallery/warsaw-maps Accessed August 2, 2025.
The areas of Warsaw controlled by the Home Army on August 4th, 1944, during the opening stages of the Warsaw Uprising. The areas of Warsaw controlled by the Home Army on August 4th, 1944, during the opening stages of the Warsaw Uprising. As the youngest AK (Armia Krajowa/ Home Army) soldier, Edna fought in the uprising before her capture and deportation to German POW camps. Source: Halibutt – Based on Image: Warszawa 1935.png. Made by Halibutt in GIMP and Inkscape, basing on maps published in: Jerzy Kirchmayer (1978). Powstanie warszawskie., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3399479 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Warszawa_Powstanie_1944-08-04.png Accessed August 2, 2025.
Map showing Allied occupation zones in Central Europe, 1945. After the Warsaw Uprising’s capitulation in October 1944, Edna was sent by the Germans to Stalag VI-C and then to Oberlangen POW camp. Following liberation in 1945, she was sent to Haren, which was administered by the Polish 1st Armoured Division under General Maczek and temporarily renamed Maczków (1945-1948)— the only Polish-administered town in occupied Germany. Source: Wikimedia Commons – Base map from Wikimedia Commons (CC0 – Public Domain) Journey route and locations added by author.
Europe and the Mediterranean, showing Edna’s post-liberation journey (1945-1951). After liberation from German POW camps, she was sent to Haren/Maczków (1945-1946), then traveled to Italy (Porto San Giorgio and the Vatican, 1946), England (Doddington 1946-1948, then Lowestoft 1948-1951), and finally to Israel in August 1951. Journey route and locations added by author. Base map source: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g5670.ct001613/ (accessed August 2, 2025).