Bonnie Elkins
Mr. Neuburger
9 May 2011
Research Paper
News reports in the 1920‟s through the 1950‟s were sporadic. Nightly news
discussed daily happenings in regional areas. Seldom did information travel around the
world to be reported on the nightly news. Antisematism was not accepted or recognized
by the nation, or the world. The Holocaust opened the eyes of the world to the horror that
“Holocaust Encyclopedia – Ghettos” that the term “Ghetto” was first heard in the 1500‟s
when Venetian authorities ordered the Jews segregated. When World War II broke out
the Germans established Ghettos to segregate political prisoners from the common
population. A political prisoner was anyone the Nazi‟s considered a threat to the German
Reich. Jewish people were forced into ghettos to segregate and control their movement
until a solution could be found and implemented remove the Jewish people from
Germany. (USHMM)
limited housing and no electricity or heat. The most common of the three types of ghettos
was closed camps. Closed ghettos had walls or barbed wire enclosures that restricted the
movement of Jews. Starvation, poor housing, and disease were frequent causes of death
Elkins 2
in the closed ghetto. Open ghettos were areas controlled by curfews with established
restrictions placed on anyone coming or going from the ghetto. The open and closed
ghettos were found in German occupied Poland and the occupied Soviet Union. The
destruction ghettos found in German occupied Soviet Union and Hungary were organized
for deportation of Jews. Anyone sent to a destruction camp was deported or shot within
In Yad Vashem – “The Ghettos,” an order was sent out to outline the
incarceration of Jews. The poorest neighborhoods were sealed to segregate the Jewish
people from their neighbors and friends. Starvation and disease were prevalent among the
Jews during the incarceration. If disease and starvation did not kill them, forced labor,
deportation or simply being shot did. More than one thousand ghettos were used in
Eastern, Central, and Southern Europe. When the Jews were forced into the labor camps
their possessions were confiscated and they were forced to wear identification badges
while they were forced to work for the German war machine. Given little food and forced
to stand in the weather in harsh conditions, the Jews spirit refused to be crushed. (YV -
The Ghettos)
Lodz ghetto in Poland was the second largest concentration camp according to
Yad Vashem in the article “Lodz Ghetto”. This ghetto was established in 1940 as a forced
labor camp. Children and adults were sent to work for the German Reich until they died
from starvation. Lack of food and unsanitary living conditions brought about the death of
half of the Lodz camp. Half of the deaths at the Lodz camp were caused by poor living
conditions, the rest of the Jews were killed by the Germans in the camp or deported to
„Daily Life in the Camp” is an article in the Yad Vashem web site that describes
the living conditions of the camp. Daily roll call was mandatory, and every morning and
evening the Jews were forced to stand in grueling heat or freezing cold for hours while
the Germans took their time attending to role call. Hours at forced labor followed by
hours standing in varying bad weather took there toll on the Jewish population. After the
day was done the Jewish people attended to their own needs. The Jewish people actively
participated in illicit activities to sustain their life. Food must be smuggled into the camp
to help sustain the inhabitants while classes were held for the children, religious
ceremonies were performed and life continued for the Jewish people. Normal activities
helped maintain the Jewish culture and give them hope for the future. (YV – Daily Life in
the Camp)
German Reich according to Yad Vashem article “Theresienstadt,” The Germans realizing
that the nations were actively pursuing information about the Jewish captives arranged a
propaganda campaign to confuse the world about the conditions of the concentration
camps. The overpopulation of the camp was sent to the killing camps for extermination,
and the camp was readied for the commission to inspect. Flowers were planted,
businesses were set up and people were chosen to talk to the commission. Everything was
made to look as if the Jewish people were treated respectfully by the Germans. A film
was made and released to the world to present the human conditions at the camp. When
everything had settled down after the film was released, all the inhabitants of the Ghetto
Mitchell Bard tells about the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto. In 1942 the Germans
ordered the Jewish council to make a list of 300,000 inhabitants to be deported to death
camps. The Jews were loaded on trains and transported to their death. The Jews left at the
camp choose to fight back. The resistance was formed; weapons were smuggled into the
camp while prepared for the next attempt at deportation. In 1943 the Germans again
returned to deport the last of the Jews to the killing camps. The resistance met the
Germans with a hand full of guns and homemade bombs smuggled in to the camp. The
Germans retreated and left the Jewish people with the first sense of victory in many
years. The resistance made additional plans for when the Germans would return.
Training began, tunnels were dug, and more objects were smuggled into the camp and
preparations were made for War. The people in the Warsaw camp banded together to
In addition, Bard states the Warsaw inhabitants planned for when the Germans
returned. The day the Germans returned they brought 2000 soldiers, tanks and flame
throwers to overthrow the resistance. The fighting began with a vengeance, with the
Jewish population fighting for their lives. When the Germans realized the Jews would not
give up without a fight they decided to burn down Warsaw ghetto. The resistance held
them off the Germans for 28 days before the Germans captured the Jewish headquarters.
When the fighting was over the Germans deported everyone that was left to the killing
camps for extermination. The Germans persecution of the Jews continued until the end
Today‟s society is based on the past, present, and future conflicts. With modern
internet instantly and the nightly news. All the trials and tribulations of daily life can be
seen and heard in minutes. The internets availability could have stopped or changed the
Jewish Holocaust, Japanese would not have successfully bombed Pearl Harbor and the
war in Iraq might have been stopped. Learning from past events paves the way for change
Work Cited
Bard, Mitchell. "Warsaw Ghetto Uprising." Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage. Web. 29
Apr. 2011.
"Types of Ghettos." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 06 Jan. 2011. Web. 29
Apr. 2011.
Vashem, Yad. “The Ghetto – Daily Life in the Ghetto- Yad Vashem.” Web 01 May 2011.
Vashem, Yad. “The Ghetto – Lodz Ghetto- Yad Vashem.” Web 01 May 2011.