THE HOLOCAUST Roots of the Holocaust

GHETTOS Jews separated from rest of population Horrible living conditions (cold, dirty, crowded, little food…) Forced to live there – fenced in and guarded; only allowed to leave for work (forced labor)

GHETTOS: A SECTION OF A CITY WHERE ALL JEWS FROM THE SURROUNDING AREAS WERE FORCED TO LIVE; A.K.A. "JEWISH QUARTER" E.X.: LODZ, WARSAW, VILNA, RIGA, MINSK

GHETTOS HAVE EXISTED IN EUROPE SINCE THE MIDDLE AGES AS A WAY TO SEPARATE JEWS FroM THE REST OF THE POPULATION.

3. JEWS WERE GIVEN ONLY A FEW HOURS WHEN THE NOTICE CAME THAT THEY WERE BEING MOVED INTO A GHETTO. They were allowed only one bag. Many tried to hide their valuables before they left, however after they were removed, people raided their homes and stole their furniture and anything else they left behind.

4. LIVING CONDITIONS WERE VERY DIFFICULT: Ghettos were surrounded by barbed wire and walls, and were patrolled by armed guards and guard dogs. Apartments that once held a family of 4 now housed 12-20. There was no privacy, few toilets, and little food.

Warsaw Ghetto Walls On October 2, 1940, the Warsaw ghetto was formally established. Six weeks later, on November 15, the ghetto was sealed with walls, as shown in this 1941 photograph. "Ghettoization" restricted the rights of Jews, created deplorable living conditions, and clustered Jews into condensed areas facilitating the eventual deportations to extermination camps. Photo credit: Meczenstwo Walka, Zaglada Zydów Polsce 1939-1945. Poland. No. 75.

Warsaw Ghetto In 1940, this brick wall was built sealing the Warsaw ghetto off from the rest of the city. Approximately 138,000 Jews were herded into this ghetto while 113,000 Poles were evacuated from this section of the city. Photo credit: Meczenstwo Walka, Zaglada Zydów Polsce 1939-1945. Poland. No. 74.

Ghetto Ration Card Ghetto ration card for October 1941. This card officially entitled the holder to 300 calories daily. Photo credit: Meczenstwo Walka, Zaglada Zydów Polsce 1939-1945. Poland. No. 137.

Warsaw

Child Smugglers Children scale a wall to smuggle food into the ghetto. Conditions were so extreme that they engaged in this activity despite the proclamation issued by Dr. Ludwig Fischer (Governor of the Warsaw District from October, 1939 to January, 1945), imposing a death penalty on Jews who left the ghetto and on those who helped them. Photo credit: Meczenstwo Walka, Zaglada Zydów Polsce 1939-1945. Poland. No. 124.

Lodz

Forced Labor in Warsaw Ghetto Forced labor was another Nazi strategy to exploit Jews. Huge German concerns as well as the local occupation authorities reaped large profits from barely paid or unpaid Jewish labor. This photograph shows Jews being forced to work in a clothing factory in the Warsaw ghetto. Photo credit: Meczenstwo Walka, Zaglada Zydów Polsce 1939-1945. Poland. No. 209

Forced Labor in the Warsaw Ghetto Jews are forced to work under terrible conditions in a metal shop in the Warsaw ghetto. Photo credit: Meczenstwo Walka, Zaglada Zydów Polsce 1939-1945. Poland. No. 210.

Jewish Families Surrender to the SS Jewish families surrender to the SS during the suppression of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. The original German caption reads: "Smoking out the Jews and bandits." Photo credit: Polish National Archives

SS Troops Guard Members of the Jewish Resistance SS troops guard members of the Jewish resistance captured during the suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The original German caption reads: "These bandits offered armed resistance." Photo credit: Polish National Archives

Lodz Ghetto deportation of children to Chelmno Death Camp

Children tried to hide, with their parents’ help, as Gordon J Children tried to hide, with their parents’ help, as Gordon J. Horwitz described in his book Ghettostadt: Lodz and the Making of a Nazi City: Some children hid in furniture and bedding, others in basement, in heaps of garbage and laundry, or in woodpiles. Parents did whatever they could, concealing children “in barrels in the attics, in ditches in the field, covered with leaves and branches.” One child sought refuge in a tree but was shot dead when discovered. Another, thanks to his father’s efforts to fashion an unusual hideout, rode out the danger concealed in a chimney on the roof. Though isolated and abandoned by the time they had been assembled in the collection area, child captives fought and scratched at the walls in a last-ditch effort to resist removal.