During German occupation in 1939, the cemetery became part of the eastern section of the enclosed ghetto and became referred to as the "Cemetery at Marysin". A total of about 200,000 Jews were incarcerated in the ghetto. Between 1940 and 1944, approximately 43,000 burials took place in the spare part of the cemetery that became known as the Pole Gettowe or Ghetto Field. The cemetery was the site of many mass executions of Jews, Roma (Gypsies) and non-Jewish Poles. Stone grave markers were forbidden so burial sites were marked by metal bed frames or low cement posts. According to the Jewish community archives, an estimated 45,000 victims were buried in this Ghetto Field during the years 1940-44. Not all those who perished in the ghetto were buried in there. Many people buried relatives in cemetery alleys and near their family graves.
