Eight days of anti-Jewish violence in occupied Warsaw
In March 1940, during the German occupation of Poland, a wave of anti-Jewish violence erupted in Warsaw. A group led by Andrzej Świetlicki, head of the National Radical Organisation (Narodowa Organizacja Radykalna – NOR), incited assaults on Jewish residents and property. The pogrom lasted eight days, while both German and Polish police remained passive. Although some historians suspect German provocation, the riots revealed the persistence of pre-war antisemitic sentiment now operating freely under occupation.
Antisemitic hatred under occupation
The violence began on Good Friday, 22 March 1940, with attacks on Jewish shops and pedestrians in central Warsaw. Groups of several hundred, drawn largely from the city’s social margins and student circles, looted Jewish stores and raided private homes and institutions, including the Jewish Council offices. Victims were beaten in the streets—recognisable by their Star of David armbands—while Jewish quarters such as Iron Gate Square and Bank Square became sites of sustained assault. The attacks abruptly ended after several days, for reasons that remain unclear. The incident exposed both the deep-rooted antisemitism in Polish society and the complicity of German occupiers, who allowed the violence to proceed unchecked.
“The street was quiet; a few people walked along the walls. Most are marked with a David Star. Fearfully, they ask one another: ‘Can we go any further?’ … Suddenly, I stopped. In the distance I heard the crash of breaking glass and the shouts of attackers: ‘Beat them, catch the Jews!’ … Armed with various sticks and iron bars, they surrounded an elderly Jew and began beating him mercilessly.”
Anonymous witness
Jewish Historical Institute Archive