Jewish Ghettos
On September 20,1939 Reinhand
Heydrich issued a directive called "The Jewish Question in occupied territories."
It was a movement of all Jews in Poland, and all German territories, which
set aside places in the main cities called Ghettos. When Poland was conquered,
the Nazis decided that a good way to rid the world of the Jews was to put
them in a small area. Soon Jews were rounded up in Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia,
and any other occupied territory. Warsaw and Lodz were the two biggest
ghettos. They were never meant to be permanent. In Warsaw, half a million
Jews were forced within the wall. Thus of the city's total population were
packed into 1.3 percent of the city's total area. Lodz had 1.5 square miles
with 150,000 Jews. From 7 to 8 in a room. The Ghettos would be surrounded
by barb wire, so Jews couldn't escape. You couldn't be outside past six
O’clock. You had absolutely no freedom and many Jews thought the Ghettos
to be Hell.
The Germans were intent on
starving the Jews to death, or simply disposing of them as efficiently
as possible. Sometimes they would just shoot them on the spot, But starving
the Jews to death was cheaper than shooting them. At times Jews would get
up to 1, I 00 calories a day, but usually less than 350 calories a day.
They were like rats living in a sewer. People were fighting over a raw
potato. Most of the food was spoiled. You would probably only get to drink
water once a day. Go to the bathroom once a day. Starvation killed an average
of 500 Jews a day. It was dirty everywhere and disease was rampant.
Starving was often times a more fitting death
than at the hands of the Gestapo. The Gestapo watched every move
made in the ghetto. Jews had to be careful with everything they did,
because of the fear tactics used by the Gestapo. The Gestapo would
often confiscate all their jewelry and money before they came to arrest
or murder an entire family.
During World War
II, Jewish people were forced into slum areas before being transported
off to concentration camps.
These slum areas are known as Jewish Ghettos.
Millions of Jews were confined into overcrowded, diseased houses.
Disease
and starvation took the lives of millions.
The Warsaw Ghetto was
the best known and the most heavily populated ghetto. The Nazis forced
millions of Jews into this
community of devastation. The Jews were
enclosed by barbed wire fences and ten-foot high walls. Most Jews
in the ghetto
had to survive without housing, but the lucky
ones could crowd in a room with at least thirteen others. At the
turn of the
century, Warsaw was occupied by the greatest
amount of Jews in the world.
The Warsaw Ghetto uprising
of 1944, 150,000 to 180,000 citizens of Warsaw died. The Warsaw Home
Army rose up
against the weak German Garrison because the
Soviet troops were nearing the city. German reinforcements wiped
out the
Warsaw Home Army. In 1945, the Soviet armies
found Warsaw in a state of almost total devastation.
It’s a wonder how one would be able to
survive in one of these ghettos. There was very little hope for the
Jews living in the
ghettos. The ghettos were like rest stops
on the highway to the concentration camps. Yet some Jews did survive
through all
the horror.
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