Ghettos:Beginning of an End

The Boy from the Warsaw Ghetto

Judenrein ActionBeginning as early

as Nov. 1939, 78,000 Jews were forced into Soviet territory. At Chelm, 1800

were forced to cross the river by swimming, only 400 survived

In charge of logistics,

how to transport, kill, etc.

Leader of Security Forces-Gestapo

Leader of SS

Fuhrer Adolf Hitler

Heinrich Himmler

ReinhardHeydrich

Adolf Eichman

n

Organization and Planning

In Germany Jews were re-

assigned homesJews living in the

country were moved to the cities

Ghettos were not walled or fenced in

Mass deportation began in 1941,Moved to Polish

ghettos, primarily Lodz

Forced “Resettlements”Polish ghettos

opened in 1939Warsaw, Lodz,

Cracow, Lublin and Lvov

Physical boundaries marked by gates, fences

WHAT IS A GHETTO?

In a modern sense of the term, a ghetto is an overcrowded urban area often associated with a specific ethnic or racial population.

In the context of Holocaust studies the term refers to the restricted quarter of many European cities in which Jews were required to live; "the Warsaw ghetto"

Organization in the GhettosJudenrat Jewish

Council of Elders Made up of community

leaders Urged fellow Jews to be

hopeful, peacefulDecreased chance of

resistance Leaders who didn’t

follow orders were brought into submission through blackmail

Organization in the GhettosJudenrat organized:

Schools, hospitals, orphanages

Fire brigadesRaised taxes to pay for

all activitiesJewish police force

(sometimes worse than Nazis)

Established soup kitchens

Made sure donations from outside were distributed fairly

Life in the GhettoNazis would hold many

responsible for acts of few

Death for all infractionsHad curfews, wore starsMen and women had to

report for forced laborTyphus, malnutrition,

poor sanitation, hypothermia (in winter)

Rumors everywhere about future

Life in the GhettoWork permits for

factories meant you might survive longer

Only workers got ration cards

Escape was possible, but where to go?Polish people would

often turn Jews in from fear of Nazis

Adam Czerniakow

Head of Judenrat in Warsaw ghetto

Kept diary, tried to act in a fair manner

Committed suicide at beginning of liquidation of the ghetto

Head of Judenrat in Lodz

Dictatorial, seen as a collaborator w/Nazis

“Give me your children” speech

Jewish LeadersMordekai Chaim Rumkowski

For Evil or Good?Some evidence of

favoritism for members of Judenrat families, friends

Nazis were able to effectively deflect hatred and blame to Jewish leaders

Younger Jews who wanted to resist ran up against tradition (respect community leaders)

Many did what they could to save lives

Jewish women on a rickshaw in the ghetto

The Hevra Kadisha (Jewish burial society)

A funeral in the cemetery

A man placing bodies in an open mass grave

The Warsaw UprisingOn April 19, the first

night of Passover, Nazi soldiers arrived in the ghetto to deport more Jews.

They were greeted with pistol shots, molotov cocktails and hand grenades.