Post on 17-Jan-2016
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.