Polish Ghettos (Historical Sites)
The ghetto in Warsaw was the biggest of all the Jewish Ghettos in Europe during the Second World War. The ghetto was established in the period October – November 1940 by the governor general of Germany Hans Frank on the territory of Poland, which was occupied by Germany. There, on an area of less than 3.5 km were placed more than 400 000 Jews from Warsaw and the surrounding areas or almost 30 per cent of the entire population of Warsaw. From that ghetto, almost 255 000 people were sent to the extermination camp Treblinka in the summer of 1942.
This photo of Jewish Ghetto
The ghetto in Warsaw was divided into two areas, a small ghetto where the rich Jews were living and the large ghetto where the conditions were worse. The small and the big ghetto were linked by one foot bridge. The ghetto was closed to the rest of the world in the mid November 1940, when the Nazis built a tall wall with a barbed wire on the top and placed armed guards around it. The ghetto in Warsaw, like the ghettos in the other cities in Poland, was administrated by a Judenrat and its aim was a policy of collaboration and not revolt. The Jewish authorities were supported by a Jewish Ghetto Police.
This photo of Jewish Ghetto
In the year that followed the closing of the ghetto and turning it into a camp, thousands new people including Polish Jews and Romani people, were brought to the ghetto and diseases started spreading. Starvation was another problem, since the food rations for the Jews in Warsaw were 186 calories. At the same time, the average food rations for Germans were 2 614 calories. Another major problem in the ghetto was the unemployment and thus many people were trying to make manufacture goods in illegal workshops to be sold outside and raw goods to be smuggled in, usually by children. Many Jewish children at the age of four or five were going to the other side several times a day and were smuggling food inside. Actually smuggling was the only source for survival of the Jews in the ghetto.
This photo of Jewish Ghetto
The life in the Warsaw ghetto was very hard, but even so it was rich with cultural activities and education. There were hospitals and orphanages, refugee centers and public soup kitchens, even a school system. There were some secret libraries and even an orchestra.
The facts reveal that more than 100 000 people from the ghetto died from starvation or disease even before the massive deportations to the extermination camps started. By the end of year 1942, it became clear that these are not just deportations, but rather massive killings and the remaining Jews decided to fight. In the beginning of next year, with no clear reason, the Nazis shot more than 600 Jews and caught other 5000 Jews. This time, the Germans met resistance and the Jews even had some serious success. This did not last for long and in the spring many Jews from the ghetto were either killed or deported to German concentration camps and death camps.
historical sites you should consider renting a Warsaw apartment or apartments in Krakow.
