Haley Freund
English
3/29/15
B
The Lodz Ghetto
During the time of the Holocaust, many ghettos were established. Ghettos were enclosed city districts where Jews were forced to live in and under harsh conditions. Ghettos isolated Jews by separating Jewish communities from the rest of the people, who are not Jewish. The purpose of ghettos was to control the Jews. The Germans established approximately 1,000 ghettos, but those ghettos either lasted for a few days to a couple of years (“Ghettos.”). One specific ghetto that is the second largest is the Lodz Ghetto (“Lodz Ghetto.”). On September 1, 1939, the Nazi’s attacked Poland and later on that month, Lodz was captured. Since about one-third of the population of Lodz was Jewish, the Nazi’s…show more content… The Jews were being deported to the Chelmno murder site, which was where the Jews were murdered by gas vans (“The Ghettos Lodz Ghetto.”). After six months went by from when the deportations started, 55,000 Jews had been deported. The deportations continued on happening, but they finally stopped and the Lodz Ghetto stabilized at about 70,000 Jews. “Heinrich Himmler wanted the Lodz Ghetto destroyed in 1943, but what probably delayed its ultimate fate was the realization by the Minister of Armaments, Albert Speer, that the Lodz Ghetto was a good supply of military equipment created very cheaply”. Albert Speer did not want the ghetto to get destroyed and he won that argument. Later on in 1944, Berlin decided to destroy the Lodz Ghetto. After that decision, which was made between the summer months of June and July of 1944, about 7,000 Jews were sent to the Chelmno death camp. After July, most of the Jews remaining in the Lodz Ghetto were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. By the time the Red Army freed the city on January 19, 1945, there were about 900 Jews left (Trueman). The Lodz Ghetto was originally only supposed to be a temporary ghetto, but it actually ended up lasting four years (“The Ghettos Lodz…show more content… It was the second largest ghetto
Works Cited
Bard, Mitchell G. "The Lodz Ghetto: History & Overview." Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 1998. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.
"Conditions within the Ghetto." Life within the Ghetto. London Jewish Cultural Centre, 2011. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.
"Ghettos." Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 20 June 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
"The Ghettos Lodz Ghetto." Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.
"Lodz Ghetto." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 27 Mar.