Litzmannstadt Ghetto

Łódź is a delightful destination but like most Polish cities, it witnessed unimaginable horrors during the 20th century and was the location of the second largest ghetto in Nazi occupied territories. Today, this period is commemorated in a number of locations spread across the district.

Litzmannstadt Ghetto

Prior to the Second World War, about a third of the population of Łódź was Jewish. Indeed, the rapid growth of the city in the previous century was partly thanks to the Jewish “King of Cotton” Izrael Poznański. After the Nazi invasion of Poland, however, the Old Town and Bałuty districts of the city were closed off in early 1940 to create the second largest ghetto in Europe.

Litzmannstadt Ghetto (to give the Nazi renaming of Łódź) used the slave labour of its inhabitants to produce uniforms and other war supplies. During the first two years, the Ghetto absorbed some 40,000 Jewish people from local areas and other parts of German-occupied territory. By the end of 1942, the deportations to the camp at Chełmno had begun. It is a harrowing story.

Today, there are a number of monuments spread across the former site of the Ghetto. In addition to those listed below, you will encounter markers dotted around on the streets. Most of the locations below are free to visit. Taken together, this is an opportunity to explore the northern districts away from the city centre, and to spend time in some beautiful parks. However, an organised guided tour of Jewish Łódź is the best way to see the area. Private tours are also available to the site of the Chełmno Kulmhof Concentration Camp.

You can read about the history of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto at the Łódź Ghetto website, which includes a detailed map of the district.

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The Jewish Cemetery

The Jewish Cemetery

To the north east of Szarych Szeregów park is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. Established in 1892 on land donated by Łódź industrialist Izrael Poznański, the site covers over 40 ha. The cemetery remained in use throughout the war and was used to bury the ghetto’s dead.

You can visit the cemetery from Sunday to Thursday 9am to 5pm and Friday 9am to 3pm (April to October), Sunday to Thursday 9am to 3pm and Friday 9am to 1pm (November to March). The cemetery is closed on Jewish holidays.

Tickets are 10zł (8zl discount).

Please note: the entrance is via Zmienna and not through the ornate gate on Abrama Cytryna. The Doły tram stop is nearby.

Men must wear a head covering when visiting the cemetery.

Tours of Jewish history in Łódź are also available through GetYourGuide. This Jewish heritage tour, for example, takes in most of the locations listed on this page. A guide is really the best way to give the district its full historical context.

Jewish Cemetery address: Bracka 40, 91-717 Łódź, Poland

Survivors’ Park

Survivors’ Park

Park Ocalałych, or Survivors’ Park, was created in 2004 to mark the 60th anniversary of the liquidation of the Łódź Ghetto. The park contains some 600 trees, representing each individual who survived the ordeal, along with a stone plaque for each, lining the main path through the park. Ocalałych also contains one of the now-traditional Jan Karski ‘bench’ statues and a large monument in the shape of the Star of David paying tribute to Poles who helped save Jewish lives.

The park is free to enter and open 24 hours.

Survivors’ Park address: Wojska Polskiego 83, 90-001 Łódź, Poland

Radegast Station

Radegast Station

Initially used to shuttle food and materials into the Łódź Ghetto, this small train station was eventually the grim departure point for perhaps 145,000 people to the extermination camps.

The original station building still stands today and contains a 3D scale model of the Ghetto. There is also Tunnel of Memory, an exhibition space dramatising the experience of Łódź Jews during the war.

You are supposed to enter via the red brick building and chimney to the west of the site. Then work through the Tunnel of Memory before emerging back outside to the steam train and train station. However, it is possible to just enter directly via the car park and have a look around.

Radegast Station is open Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm and Saturday / Sunday 10am to 5pm. The exhibition is closed on Friday.

Entry to the station area is free but tickets for the exhibition cost 12zł – free on Wednesday. Various tours are available. You can find out more from the Radegast Station webpage (in Polish).

Reaching the site is not straightforward, as the museum is down a country lane. I caught the bus to the Zagajnikowa – Radlińskiej NŻ stop, and walked north, crossing the main road and continuing in the same direction. But it is a 15-minute walk from the Jewish Cemetery, and there are other train, tram, and bus stops nearby.

Radegast Station address: aleja Pamięci Ofiar Litzmannstadt Getto 12, 91-859 Łódź, Poland

Additionally, it’s possible to travel out to the Chełmno Kulmhof Extermination Camp, the tragic destination for many of those who left Łódź via Radegast Station. This guided tour of Chełmno. includes transportation and an in-depth 2-hour tour of the memorial site.

Romani Forge

Romani Forge

Close to Park Ocalałych is the Kuźnia Romów, a small monument to the ‘ghetto within a ghetto’ once housing some 5,000 Roma and Sinti people. There’s a commemorative stone outside and some period tenement housing around the courtyard.

The small museum inside the forge is only viewable with advance booking, unfortunately. See the official Romani Forge webpage for contact details (in Polish).

Romani Forge address: Wojska Polskiego 84, 90-001 Łódź, Poland

Children’s Martyrdom Monument

Children’s Martyrdom Monument

On the eastern edge of Szarych Szeregów park is a monument for the children interred in the nearby prison camp on the nearby street of Przemysłowa – known, in Polish, as the Pomnik Martyrologii Dzieci “Pęknietego Serca”. It was claimed that these children were criminals but the reality is that most of their families were locked up in Nazi gaols. The monument is an abstracted broken heart containing the emaciated figure of a child. There are also information boards to help you navigate the area.

The park and monument are free to visit and open 24 hours.

Children’s Martyrdom Monument address: Szarych Szeregów Park, Księdza Stanisława Staszica, 90-001 Łódź, Poland

The locations above are spread out across quite a large area and it will take an afternoon to see everything. You could start at Radegast Station and work your way back towards central Łódź or start with the Survivors’ Park and the Romani Forge, then work your way north. Alternatively, just choose the location you most want to see and head to it directly. Use this official Łódź timetable and the addresses above to plan your journey.

All times and prices are subject to change, and opening hours may be different during public holidays.

It’s also possible to take a day trip to Auschwitz from Łódź, which includes full transport, lunch, and a 3.5-hour tour of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. See the Auschwitz-Birkenau guide on our sister site VisitKrakow.com.

Similarly, the Treblinka memorial site can be visited as part of a day trip from Warsaw. See the guide to Treblinka on our sister site WarsawVisit.com.