List of Jewish ghettos in Europe during World War II

During World War II the Nazis created Jewish ghettos for the purpose of isolating, exploiting and finally eradicating Jewish population (and sometimes Romani people) on territories they controlled. Most of the ghettos were set up by the Third Reich in the course of World War II. In total, according to United States Holocaust Memorial Museum archives, "The Germans established at least 1,000 ghettos in German-occupied and annexed Poland and the Soviet Union alone." Therefore, the examples are intended only to illustrate their scope across Eastern and Western Europe.[2]

List of ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe
The World War II ghettos established by Nazi Germany in which Jews were confined existed across the continent; their inmates were later shipped to Nazi concentration camps

In Europe

edit

Large Nazi ghettos in which Jews were confined existed across the continent. These ghettos were liquidated as Holocaust transports delivered their helpless victims to concentration and extermination camps built by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland.[1]

German-occupied Poland

edit

Following the 1939 Invasion of Poland, the new ghetto system had been imposed by Nazi Germany roughly between October 1939 and July 1942 in order to confine Poland's Jewish population of 3.5 million for the purpose of persecution, terror, and exploitation.[3] The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest ghetto in all of Nazi occupied Europe, with over 400,000 Jews crammed into an area of 3.4 square kilometres (1+38 square miles), or 7.2 persons per room.[4] The Łódź Ghetto was the second largest, holding about 160,000 inmates.[5]

A more complete list of over 270 ghettos with an approximate number of prisoners, dates of creation and liquidation, as well as known deportation routes to extermination camps, is available at Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Poland. Below, selected Nazi German designations are listed.

Other countries and occupied territories

edit

Ghettos outside Europe

edit
  • Shanghai Ghetto (1937-1941, less restriction over Jews by Japanese) (1941-1945) Japanese forced 16,000 Jews into a one square mile ghetto, where they were often the victims of air raids by the U.S.' 7th Air Force, and often had no running water, no bathroom, heavy rations, and it was not uncommon for 30-40 people to sleep in the same room.[7]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b The Ghettos. Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority
  2. ^ Types of Ghettos. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.
  3. ^ The statistical data compiled on the basis of "Glossary of 2,077 Jewish towns in Poland" Archived 2016-02-08 at the Wayback Machine by Virtual Shtetl Museum of the History of the Polish Jews  (in English), as well as "Getta Żydowskie," by Gedeon,  (in Polish) and "Ghetto List" by Michael Peters at www.deathcamps.org/occupation/ghettolist.htm  (in English). Accessed June 21, 2011.
  4. ^ Warsaw Ghetto, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Washington, D.C.
  5. ^ Ghettos, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  6. ^ "Yahad - in Unum".
  7. ^ Shanghai Jewish History Archived 2010-05-29 at the Wayback Machine, Proclamation Concerning Restriction of Residence and Business of Stateless Refugees. (Shanghai Jewish Center)

Bibliography

edit