80th Anniversary of the Outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising commemorated on an NBP coin
On 12 April 2023, Narodowy Bank Polski is putting into circulation a collector gold coin and a collector silver coin “80th Anniversary of the Outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising”.
A collector gold coin and a collector silver coin “80th Anniversary of the Outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising” will be available on sale as of 12 April 2023.
The gold coin with a face value of 200 złoty is made of gold, it is 27 millimetres in diameter and weighs 15.5 grams. It has been minted in up to 1,200 pieces and is available at the price of PLN 4600. The silver coin with a face value of 10 złoty is made of silver, it is 32 millimetres in diameter and weighs 14.14 grams. It has been minted in up to 10,000 pieces and is available at the price of PLN 200.
The reverse of the gold coin shows civilians during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, with the Star of David, the outline of which is formed by a brick wall – such a wall separated the ghetto area from the so-called “Aryan side”. The reverse of the silver coin features a figure of a boy with his arms raised. The images of the people were designed on the basis of photographs taken by the Germans during the liquidation of the ghetto.
The obverses of both coins depict an outline of the borders of the Warsaw ghetto, the biggest one to have been created by the Third Reich in occupied Europe.
At the peak moment, in the spring of 1941, approximately 460,000 Jews were crowded into an area of roughly 307 hectares. Over 90,000 of them died as a result of overcrowding, starvation and disease. In the summer of 1942, the Germans conducted the so-called Great Action and deported about 260,000 Jews from the ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp, while scores died within the ghetto itself. Following these events, about 50,000 people remained within the district and its area was reduced.
In July 1942, the Jewish Combat Organization (Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa, ŻOB) was established, under the leadership of Mordechaj Anielewicz. There was another resistance organization in the ghetto – the Jewish Military Union (Żydowski Związek Wojskowy, ŻZW), headed by Paweł Frenkel.
In January 1943, having heard about further deportations, the fighters mounted armed resistance, which caused the Germans to stop the transports. Emboldened by this outcome, the members of the ŻOB and the ŻZW spent the next few weeks preparing for combat: they collected weapons, created hiding places and built bunkers.
The uprising broke out at dawn on 19 April 1943, when the Germans proceeded to liquidate the ghetto. The occupiers assumed that the action would take several days, but they encountered a fierce defence. Thus, the greatest act of armed resistance by Jewish population during World War II began. It was also the first armed uprising on such a large scale undertaken against the Germans by Polish underground organisations; it was also the first urban uprising in Nazi-occupied Europe.
The greatest battle took place from 19 to 22 April 1943 in Muranów Square, which no longer exists. On 8 May, the Germans discovered the bunker at 18 Miła Street, housing the headquarters of the ŻOB with Mordechaj Anielewicz. A lot of those who were taking shelter there chose to commit suicide rather than be captured, others were killed.
The Germans declared that the uprising had ended on 16 May 1943, when they blew up the Great Synagogue on Tłomackie Street. However, the following days still saw some skirmishes. After the collapse of the uprising, most of the buildings in the ghetto were torched and everything was razed to the ground.
The silver and gold coins “80th Anniversary of the Outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising” can be purchased at NBP regional branches and in the NBP online shop Kolekcjoner.
More information can be found in the brochure.
NBP collector coins and banknotes are sold in commercial packaging with an attached certificate.
The next issue is scheduled on 10 May 2023. On that date, Narodowy Bank Polski will be putting into circulation a silver coin “In Poland I Believe – The Polish Family” with a face value of 10 złoty, inaugurating a new series of coins.
Contact:
Contact for collectors: e-mail kolekcjoner@nbp.pl, tel. +48 22 185 17 05
Contact for the media: e-mail press@nbp.pl, tel. +48 22 185 20 12
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About NBP
Narodowy Bank Polski holds the exclusive right to issue banknotes and coins in Poland. All currency issued by NBP – including collector banknotes and coins – is legal tender in Poland. Issuing collector items is an occasion to commemorate important historic figures and anniversaries, as well as to develop the interest of the public in Polish culture, science and tradition.
High-resolution images of the coin: https://nbp.pl/en/collector-coins/