The Ghettos: 1938 - 1945

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1. Play the slideshow to see pictures of the Jewish ghettos.

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2. Read the information here to learn about the ghettos.

 
The Ghettos ________________________________________________________

Key Facts:
—  Ghettos were set up to segregate Jews from the rest of the population.
—  They were designed to be temporary; some lasted only a few days or weeks, others for several years.

The vast majority of ghetto inhabitants died from disease or starvation, were shot, or were deported to killing centers. Ghettos during World War II: Living conditions were terrible. Ghettos were enclosed districts that isolated Jews by separating Jewish communities from the non-Jewish population. The Germans established at least 1,000 ghettos. The largest ghetto in Poland was the Warsaw ghetto. In Warsaw, more than 400,000 Jews were crowded into an area of 1.3 square miles. Tens of thousands of western European Jews were also deported to ghettos in the east. In many places the ghettos lasted a short time. Some ghettos existed for only a few days. Others lasted for months or years. The Germans saw the ghettos as a way to control and segregate Jews while the Nazi leadership in Berlin deliberated upon options for the removal of the Jewish population. With the implementation of the "Final Solution" (the plan to murder all European Jews) beginning in late 1941, the Germans destroyed the ghettos. The Germans either shot ghetto residents in mass graves located nearby or deported them to killing centers.