Outside the Ghetto, hiding was not always the method chosen by the Jews who escaped from the Ghetto. A group of young intrepid aged from 6 to 16 simply jumped into the jaws of the lion and visible to everyone. Dressed like Varsovians on the Aryan side and speaking a perfect Polish, nobody could suspect they were Jews. Known as the ‘The cigarette sellers of the ‘Plac Trzech Krzyży’, they worked there from 1942 to 1944 selling cigarettes to everyone, including German officers and members of the Gestapo.
Indeed, the Place was located near the Gendarmerie headquarters, and this proximity conferred a certain security, as most people could not imagine Jews selling cigarettes in such a risky place.
They survived the great deportations and most of them participated in the Warsaw Uprising and survived: Josek and Tereza Szindler (the founders of the group), Josek Szapiro, Perec and Zalman Hochman, Szoszana Saksznajder, Ignacy Milchberg and Józef Ziemian.
Today a plaque in their honor was unveiled at the 4/6 Plac Trzech Krzyży.
Beautiful Warszawa 