Life in the Warsaw Ghetto essays

Life in the Warsaw Ghetto essays The holocaust was a tragic even in history when Jewish residents of Germany and other lands were deported into concentration camps or ghettos. One of the well known ghettos is the Warsaw Ghetto that lasted from October 1940 until June 1943 (Resnick 46). Warsaw was one of the largest ghettos with a maximum amount of prisoners there at one time of 450,000 people (Resnick 48). Many Jews were forced to live in hallways, under bridges, in pile of trash, or anywhere that they would be able to get away from the rain, snow, and cold (Warsaw 38). The ghetto was closed off by barbed wire or wooden fences and patrolled by German guards who constantly brutalized innocent people (Resnick 39). Plumbing frequently broke down and bathing was almost unheard of. Even the toilets couldnt be flushed (Resnick 40). Many of the people that lived in the ghetto died from malnutrition. In the three summer months of 1941, 85,000 prisoners died from hunger, thirst, and sickness. Out of those 85,000 prisoners that died, 20,000 were children (Resnick 46). A typhoid fever outbreak in 1940 killed 15,000 prisoners. It was calculated that the rations that were supplied didnt even cover 10 percent of the normal requirements (Warsaw 38). When the deportations began, efforts were made to establish a fighting organization, consisting of the various underground factions operating in the ghetto. The Jewish Fighting Organization; ZOB, was formed on July 28, 1942. The deportations stopped in September by which time about 300,000 Jews had been removed from the ghetto. This left the population at 55,000-60,000 in the ghetto. These survivors that were young people, left feeling isolated and bitter. Most of them blamed themselves for not offering resistance against the deportations. The prisoners now shared the same idea that under the existing circumstances their only way to freedom is fighting the German troops (Establishment of a Fighting Organization n.p.)....