Holocaust Timeline: The Ghettos

Confining Jews in ghettos was not Hitler's brainchild. For centuries, Jews had faced persecution, and were often forced to live in designated areas called ghettos

. The Nazis' ghettos differed, however, in that they were a preliminary step in the annihilation of the Jews, rather than a method to just isolate them from the rest of society. As the war against the Jews progressed, the ghettos became transition areas, used as collection points for deportation to death camps and concentration camps

Hitler incorporated the western part of Poland into Germany according to race doctrine. He intended that Poles were to become the slaves of Germany and that the two million Jews therein were to be concentrated in ghettos in Poland's larger cities. Later this would simplify transport to the death camps. Nazi occupation authorities officially told the story that Jews were natural carriers of all types of diseases, especially typhus, and that it was necessary to isolate Jews from the Polish community. Jewish neighborhoods thus were transformed into prisons. The five major ghettos were located in Warsaw

, Lódz, Kraków, Lublin, and Lvov.

On November 23, 1939 General Governor Hans Frank issued an ordinance that Jews ten years of age and older living in the General Government had to wear the Star of David on armbands or pinned to the chest or back. This made the identification of Jews easier when the Nazis began issuing orders establishing ghettos.

Eight images show different ways that Jews were segregated from the rest of society.

In total, the Nazis established 356 ghettos in Poland, the Soviet Union, the Baltic States, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Hungary between 1939 and 1945. There was no uniformity to these ghettos. The ghettos in small towns were generally not sealed off, which was often a temporary measure used until the residents could be sent to bigger ghettos.

Larger cities had closed ghettos, with brick or stone walls, wooden fences, and barbed wire defining the boundaries. Guards were placed strategically at gateways and other boundary openings. Jews were not allowed to leave the so-called "Jewish residential districts," under penalty of death.

All ghettos had the most appalling, inhuman living conditions. The smallest ghetto housed approximately 3,000 people. Warsaw, the largest ghetto, held 400,000 people. Lódz, the second largest, held about 160,000. Other Polish cities with large Jewish ghettos included Bialystok, Czestochowa, Kielce, Kraków, Lublin, Lvóv, Radom, and Vilna.

Many of the ghetto dwellers were from the local area. Others were from neighboring villages. In October 1941, general deportations began from Germany to major ghettos in Poland and further east. Also, Jews from Austria and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia were sent to the ghettos.

Ghetto life was wretched. The ghettos were filthy, with poor sanitation. Extreme overcrowding forced many people to share a room. Disease was rampant. Staying warm was difficult during bitter cold winters without adequate warm clothes and heating fuel. Food was in such short supply that many slowly starved to death.

Additional notes on ghetto nutrition including examples of daily caloric rations.

Even in the midst of these horrible conditions, many ghetto dwellers resisted dehumanization. Parents continued to educate their children, although it was considered an illegal activity. Some residents secretly continued to hold religious services and observe Jewish holidays.

The Nazis established the Theresienstadt (or Terezín) ghetto in northwestern Czechoslovakia as a so-called model Jewish settlement to counter rumors in the international community about the poor conditions in the ghettos. Flower gardens, cafés, and schools were constructed to demonstrate to visiting International Red Cross inspectors and audiences of Nazi propaganda films the humane conditions of a "typical" ghetto. Terezín also functioned as a transit camp for many who were later sent to Auschwitz or other death camps.

Visit the Janusz Korczak site to learn more about the teacher who resisted by carrying on his work in an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto.

More information about Terezín, before, during, and after the war, is available at this Web site.

Photographs, maps, and an article about the Theresienstadt ghetto.

The story of Valie Borsky who spent four years in Theresienstadt.

Scenes of Warsaw ghetto life including arrival of inmates, the Jewish police, and the walls.

Scenes of Warsaw ghetto life including crowded streets, forced labor, smuggling, and homeless children.

Images of life in other Polish ghettos outside of Warsaw including a marketplace, an execution, and a ghetto newspaper.

Artworks by four ghetto artists.

Many photographs of life (and death) in the ghettos.

A history of the Vilna ghetto including maps, documents, and many photographs.

"The Cultural Life of the Vilna Ghetto" by Solon Beinfeld.

Photographs, documents, maps and an extensive article about the Lodz ghetto.

Photographs, maps and an article about the Lvov ghetto.

Read a translation of Kovno Ghetto Diary by Dmitri Gelpernus.

The Nazis undertook to liquidate the ghettos as they began full implementation of "The Final Solution to the Jewish Question" in 1942. Massive deportations of Jews to concentration and death camps continued until the summer of 1944. By that time, almost all of the ghettos had been liquidated.

Interactive quiz on the ghettos.

Lesson plans, discussion questions, term paper topics, reproducible handouts, and other resources for teaching about the ghettos are available here.

A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology,
College of Education, University of South Florida © 2005.