Warsaw tenement houses — witnesses of history and survival
Warsaw is a city with a turbulent history that has repeatedly risen from the ruins. Among the modern skyscrapers and restored buildings, you can still find tenement houses dating back to the pre-war times. These surviving fragments of old Warsaw not only contrast with modern steel-and-glass office buildings to create a unique landscape, but old brick buildings also remind us of the stories of past residents and are a symbol of the city’s extraordinary perseverance. We invite you to take a walk in the footsteps of the most interesting tenements of Warsaw’s Wola district.
It is best to start our journey at Rondo ONZ. It is here, among the most modern high-rise buildings, that an inconspicuous grey tenement is hidden with the former address of Twarda 28. This four-storey building, completed in 1911, belonged to Lejb Osnos. The ground floor of the building housed various enterprises: there were grocery stores, a wine warehouse and a hairdressing salon, which made the tenement a focal point of everyday life. Before the Second World War, this was a densely built-up part of Warsaw, inhabited mainly by the Jewish community. In 1940, the building was located within the ghetto. Nevertheless, it survived the war in relatively good condition. In the 1960s , many architectural details were removed from the building’s façade. As a resullt, the tenement house lost its shine.
We carry on down Twarda Street. Here, at the intersection with Złota Street, an inconspicuous line can be seen on the pavement bearing the inscription: ‘ghetto wall 1940–1943’. It is part of the monument to the ghetto wall. From November 1940 to March 1941, this part of Wola lay within the ghetto. Let’s take a look ahead of us. On the horizon we will see a magnificent corner tenement house with stunning architectural detail. It is hard to imagine that just a few years ago this tenement was in very poor condition: boarded up with a collapsing roof. Renovation work did not begin until 2019. This building originally belonged to the well-known construction entrepreneur Wolf Krongold. The tenement house was known colloquially as ‘Pekin’ (Beijing) by Varsovians, due to the numerous tenants living at this address. During the renovation, the detail at the top of the tenement was restored. Let’s give it our attention. The sculptures depict two figures: an older man and a young man with a lyre. They symbolise the turn of the century. The Krongolda tenement was built in 1899. When we get closer, on the ground floor from the Żelazna Street side, we will see the inscription ‘Fryzjer’ (Barber) emerge. It is a remnant of a pre-war advertising sign.
I suggest we leave the main route behind for a moment and go back to the address Żelazna 22. On the side wall of the tenement there is a beautiful mural designed by Roch Urbaniak. It is a copy of a painting by the artist presented to a wider audience at an exhibition in Kraków in 2017. The image is a reference to the video game BioShock Infinite, which takes place in the flying steampunk city of Columbia, with the events occurring in 1912.
Let’s go back to the intersection of Żelazna and Prosta streets. On the left, we pass the buildings of Fabryka Norblina (Norblin Factory). Until recently, it was a badly neglected site. Today it is the new centre of Warsaw with a fashionable food hall and the beautiful plating once produced there. Our attention is drawn by a mural based on a painting by one of Poland’s most famous painters and graphic artists—Edward Dwurnik. This work is on a historic building, the history of which dates back to the late 19th century. Built in 1885, it initially served both as a residential building and as a storage/pantry facility. After World War II, it housed a chemical laboratory. We’ll stay on the factory premises. During the Warsaw Uprising, fierce fighting took place here. The symbol that reminds us of these tragic events on a daily basis is the Fighting Poland sign located on the western wall of the Mechanical Laboratory hall (currently the wall of the Paradiso restaurant). However, this is not a sign from the time of World War II. ‘Anchor’ was painted almost 40 years after the war—for the exhibition ’63 days of the Warsaw Uprising’, sometimes also called ‘Warsaw Fights 1944’, which was organised by community activists and held on the Norblin Factory premises between 1 August and 31 November 1982.
To continue our journey, let’s grab a coffee and head towards Pereca Street. Once it was Ceglana Street, where the most important creator of Yiddish literature lived and worked—Icchok Lejb Perec. Let’s stand in the middle of the intersection with Waliców Street. Like a lens, the whole history of Warsaw is focused here. The brick façade integrated into the modern apartment building is a remnant of the former Herman Jung brewery. All that remains of the former premises today is a brick administrative building and a wall with visible bullet marks along Waliców Street. During World War II, the brewery wall was the boundary of the ghetto. On the other side of the street there are three tenement houses —ruins that serve as a reminder of those times. These houses bring together over a hundred years of the history of Warsaw and Europe. They remember the times of the partitions, World War I, the rebirth of the Polish state, and the multicultural Second Polish Republic. The remaining buildings also survived communism and the planned demolition of this area. They are witnesses of times of transformation and change in the urban landscape.
It is worth mentioning that during the Second World War, the outstanding poet, compere and satirist Władysław Szlengel and the photographer and ethnographer Menachem Kipnis lived at the address Waliców 14. Their stories are a direct testimony to the tragedy of Jews crowded into the ghetto. The tenement at No. 14 still bears silent witness to the fighting during the Warsaw Uprising. A German bomb hit its front in 1944. Let’s turn our gaze to the side wall of the tenement house. We will see a fascinating mural with a tiny balloon and the inscription ‘Kamienico’—a play on words. An interesting fact is that a portion of the city panorama is reflected in the balloon, though it is difficult to see it without the help of a camera with a zoom lens. How much longer will we be able to admire the mural? This is a question that remains unanswered for the time being as the tenement’s fate is uncertain.
A few metres on, we turn into Krochmalna Street. Here we feel as if time has stopped. What’s more, this part of Warsaw was called the ‘Wild West’. Our attention is drawn to Żelazna 66. It was here that the outstanding composer, author of operas (including the famous ‘The Passenger’) Mieczysław Weinberg was born and spent his childhood. Next to it, at number 64, is the tenement house of Anna Koźmińska. Before the war, there was a cinema in the courtyard. During the German occupation, a group of Jews was hiding here. After the war, the tenement became part of Polish pop culture thanks to a novel by Leopold Trymand. Let’s go into the patisserie on the corner for a moment. This is one of two confectioners in the city that make sweets on site.
We still have the last address and tenement house ahead of us. Let’s go to Chłodna 20. Once, Chłodna was the most elegant street in the Wola district. The war changed it beyond recognition. This part of Warsaw’s pre-war splendour can easily be seen by looking at the façade of the ‘Tenement under the clock’. Some even say it is haunted… But I am interested in the putto sculpture on the balcony. A fragment of it can be seen in an iconic photo depicting the footbridge above the ghetto. It was from this balcony that the photograph was taken. A sharp eye will spot it on the ghetto boundary monument just a short walk from the tenement. During the time of the occupation and the ghetto, Adam Czerniaków, president of the Warsaw Judenrat, lived at this address.
Let’s end our walk here.
Author: Katarzyna Jankowska, Warsaw guide
