Jewish ghettos (Holocaust)

A detailed Summary of Jewish ghettos (Holocaust)

It can be agreed on that the ghettos established as part of the Nazi regime to put an answer to the Jewish question all have something in common. They were all populated by European Jews; they were all established to segregate the Jewish race from the rest of the population; smuggling was rampant in all ghettos; and the living conditions were all sub standard with a large number of Jews dying whilst living in the ghettos.

However, like all things in life, the ghettos in wartime Europe all had their differences. Whether it be in size, location, population or any other defining factor, no ghetto was exactly the same as another.

The ghettos were placed under the administrative control of the Jewish council or 'Judenrate', however, although Jews ran the ghettos, they were subject to superior German control and had to enforce any order given. "Progressively, from 1941 until the end of the war, the ghetto leadership was forced to give up Jews for deportation to death camps as ghettos were liquidated." The Jewish leadership had little option but comply with German order or suffer the ultimate consequence.

As the Jewish Council was forced to comply with German rule in choosing people to deport from the ghettos, in

This sense of unity within the ghettos is portrayed also in this document. The chief physician, who spoke on behalf of the girl who was almost raped and her family, was deported. The Chairman of the Jewish Council was deported because he asked one of the German administrators not to deport his brother and his family. The administrator refused, but added, "If you wish, you can accompany them." And the Chairman, out of loyalty not only to his fellow Jew, but his family, accepted the offer.

These attempts at standing up to the German authorities did little to help the Jews in their fight for survival. Most of the times, they did not know what was going to happen next. They had to rely on rumour to receive information concerning the outside. "There were rumours of greetings, letters, and people who allegedly returned from deportation. The Germans and their agents deliberately spread these false stories in order to create confusion and disinformation."

Jewish council leaders did feel obligated to care for the population of their ghetto, despite heavy criticism that they helped German authorities in deporting Jews. In Document One "Only work can save us", we are given the impression that Chaim Rumkowski is a dedicated official, who aimed to lengthen the existence of the Jews in his ghetto. This significant because Chaim Rumkowski is notorious for having ruled as a dictator and for being susceptible to various forms corruption. Despite his behaviour, he still attempted to alleviate the suffering of his people. In Document One, the leadership is faced with the moral dilemma of assigning a certain amount of people for deportation. Rumkowski attempts to justify his acquiescing to Nazi demands of selecting 10,000 Jews, by proclaiming that he has selected the most undesirable aspects of the population in attempts to mitigate the tragedy. He selected the "element of our ghetto which was a festering boil" with the list of deportees including "members of the underworld and other individuals harmful to the ghetto." This act, not only practiced by Rumkowski, was based on the belief that the minority should be sacrificed to ensure the survival of the majority.

It was believed that work would maintain the unity of the ghetto, but with deportations occurring on a regular basis, even the "greatest optimists have lost hope." Whereas in Document One, those who posed a threat to the unity of the ghetto were deported first, in Document Two, the "first to be resettled are the most recent arrivals...[followed by] those who hid from the last resettlement and then those who were stamped at the medical commission's examinations."

Because of the overwhelming sense of pessimism, Jews could see no bright future. "People repressed knowledge of their doom. They desperately, even self- destructively, clung to illusions." Instead of running "out into the street, have set fire to everything in sight, have torn down the walls and escape to the other side" , the Jews followed German orders, which ultimately lead them to their deaths.

Resettlement, or deportation, is a general concern for

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Approximate Word count = 2098
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History