Warsaw GhettosBy: Olivia Miller and Vanessa McElroy

Warsaw Ghettos

Warsaw

Poland’s capitol

Europe's largest community of Jewish people

Second largest Jewish community in the world by 20th century

With a population of 1.3 million, 29% were Jewish

Germany Invades Poland

Germany attacks and surrounds Warsaw from all sides

Warsaw stands against German force for 3 weeks

Air attacks caused much damage and loss of life

New Jewish Laws in Warsaw

Men and women 10+ years old had to wear an armband with a blue star of David on it

No radios

Jewish shops had to be identified

Prohibited train transportation

Had to have special permit in order to buy or lease enterprise from Jews

Jews had to put money in a “blocked back account”

Couldn’t receive more than 250 zloties ($83.20) per week from bank account

Most of their economic activity was controlled

Jews in WarsawRise in gang violence against Jews

Jews were attacked and mugged

No interference from those who witnessed Jews being robbed on street

Warsaw Ghettos

On October 12, 1940, Jews were notified about the ghettos they were supposed to move into

138,000 Jews took the homes of 113,000 Poles

Jewish ghetto was cut off by a high constructed wall

Construction was done by the firm Schmidt & Münstermann

Nazis did not call this area a ghetto, but instead Jüdischer Wohnbezirk, which means Jewish Quarter

Living Situations

Started off not so bad but got increasingly worse

29% of Warsaw living in 3 mile area, which is 2.4% of the city area

Rationed 200 calories per day

Often bribed guards to smuggle in food

DeathsWere not put into gas chambers like the concentration camps

From starvation, typhoid, poor sanitary conditions

Around 6,000 people/month

Daily Lives

2,454 students attended training schools in the ghetto

Had underground organizations

Smuggling was vital

Continued with daily prayers even though they were told not to.

After Deaths

Families stripped relatives clothingSold clothing for money

Bodies were left naked on streets

Funeral carts would collect bodies between 4 and 5 AM

After the ghettos

Were not dying quick enough

Some were sent to labor camps

300,000 sent to Treblinka Extermination camp

CitationsCalender of Events. The Fund for Support of Jewish Institutions or Projects outside Norway, 2006. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. <http://www.getto.pl/index.php?show=kalendarium&lang=en>.

Holocaust Education and Research Team. "The Warsaw Ghetto Http://www.HolocaustResearchProject.org." Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team. 2007. Web. 03 Apr. 2011. <http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ghettos/warsawghetto.html>.

Polish Zloty Exchange Rate Graph - US Dollar - Historical Exchange Rates." Exchange Rates. 25 Mar. 2011. Web. 30 Mar. 2011. <http://www.exchange-rates.org/history/PLN/USD/G>.

"Warsaw Ghetto." Central Page. 14 Sept. 2006. Web. 30 Mar. 2011. <http://www.deathcamps.org/occupation/warsaw ghetto.html>.

Warsawlife.com. "Warsaw Ghetto | Warsaw Life." Warsaw Life | Warsaw Travel Guide | Restaurants Shops Pubs and Apartments Warsaw Hotels | Poland. 2011. Web. 03 Apr. 2011. <http://www.warsaw-life.com/poland/warsaw-ghetto>.