The term ghetto originated in Italy in the sixteenth century; this was the name given to the Jewish quarter in Venice. During World War II ghettoization of the Jews occurred between the years of 1939 to 1942. Most of the ghettos were in Poland, inside the Nazi administrative region called the Generalgouvernement (General Government). Usually the a poor section of a city or town was designated for the ghetto, and the Jews were required to leave, taking only what they could carry to the ghetto. Once all the Jews entered the ghetto area it was sealed off from the rest of the city.

There was much overcrowding, starvation, and death. There were virtually no jobs and little money to go around. Some ghettos tried to work with the Nazis to create jobs. Within the ghetto, a Judenrat, or Jewish council, was established by the Nazis, and the head of the Judenrat was called the Älteste der Juden (Elder of the Jews). He was in charge of the ghetto government and had to work with the Nazis in governing.

In January 1942 at the Wannsee Conference, the “Final Solution” was formulated. This “solution,” which involved the complete destruction of  Jewish people in Europe and Poland, signaled the end of the ghettos. After January of 1942 the Nazis began to liquidate the ghettos and send the residents to the six death camps set up in the Generalgouvernement.

The post office in the Warsaw ghetto was run by the Judenrat government, but the money it derived from the sale of postal items went to the main post office in Warsaw. In order for the ghetto post office to pay the workers, a surtax was applied to the mail that was delivered to the residents of the ghetto.  

This postcard was sent to the Warsaw ghetto. It has a machine cancel March 11, 1941, with the ghetto receiving handstamp and the circular surtax marking.

This image shows the markings enlarged: the circular surtax stamp barely visible at the top left and the rectangular ghetto receiving handstamp at the bottom right.