Living on the ashes: Collective representations of Polish–Jewish history among people living in the former Warsaw Ghetto area

Before WWII Jews constituted one third of the Warsaw population. Muranów is the heart of the former Jewish district, the central area of the Warsaw Ghetto, installed by the Nazis in 1940. This district was totally destroyed during the war and its present urban shape not in the least reminds of its pre-war past. In this study, we investigated the collective memory of the district and representations of the Polish–Jewish history shared by contemporary inhabitants of Muranów. Ninety four residents were interviewed at their homes. The results show that “people living on the ashes” perceive the Jewish history of their place of residence as important and meaningful even though almost no visible remnants of the Jewish pre-war district have survived. The present attitudes and memories of the contemporary inhabitants seem to be shaped by the public ceremonies and educational tours which take place in the district, by presence of commemorating monuments and by the street names. These findings emphasize the crucial role of urban reminders such as museums, monuments and street names in the dynamics of collective memory.