the population of jews in poland, which formed the largest jewish community in pre-war europe at about 3.3 million people, was all but destroyed by 1945. approximately 3 million jews died of starvation in ghettos and labor camps, were slaughtered at the german nazi extermination camps or by the einsatzgruppen death squads. between 40,000 and 100,000 polish jews survived the holocaust in poland, and another 50,000 to 170,000 were repatriated from the soviet union, and 20,000 to 40,000 from germany and other countries. at its postwar peak, there were 180,000 to 240,000 jews in poland, settled mostly in warsaw, łódź, kraków and wrocław.