The newspaper Telegraaf reported from Berlin today that an epidemic of typhus and cholera has hit Warsaw, that 80 per cent of the city was destroyed in the Nazi bombardment and that some 80,000 persons lie wounded in hospital shacks. (Of Warsaw’s 1,171,000 population, more than 333,000 were Jews.)
Reporting that diplomats accredited to Poland had left Berlin on a special train for Warsaw last night to attend to matters connected with their embassies, legations and homes, the dispatch said:
“The diplomats had to pledge themselves to take all meals in the dining car and to drink only water provided on the train. Warsaw’s water is suspect, the three great water mains there having been broken by the bombardment and the water having been contaminated by bodies under the ruins.
“Typhus and cholera have already taken victims. This gives an idea of the horrible living conditions of Poles who remained in Warsaw. Following an inventory of the situation at Warsaw, it was established that the city was almost entirely destroyed. According to an official German estimate, it was 80 per cent destroyed, and it is doubtful whether the city will be rebuilt.
“More than 80,000 wounded persons are housed in hospital shacks. Most of them were seriously injured. Suffering and distress are beyond imagination. The embassies and legations were much damaged. The number of civil and military victims is not yet known.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
