the Warsaw Ghetto
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The Beginning of the Ghetto
On October 20, 1940, the Germans began building a 1.3 square miles sealed off area where over 400,000 Jews would live in Warsaw, Poland. This place was called the Warsaw Ghetto. The entire area was enclosed by a 10 foot tall wall with broken glass and barbed wire sitting on the top. Although many Jewish Organizations within the ghetto tried to keep their friends alive, between 1940 and mid 1942, around 83,000 Jews were killed. Between July 22 and September 12, 1942, about 265,000 Jews were transported to the Treblinka death camp, while 35,000 were killed inside the ghetto. A man named Abraham Lewin was in the ghetto during this massive deportation, and he kept a diary which was recovered and published. On July 24, 1942, Lewin wrote, "People get attacks of hysteria. 11,000 people have been rounded up, 100 policemen held hostage. One of them let himself down a rope, fell and was badly wounded. The policeman Zakhajm has been shot. Terrifying rumours about the night - Will there be a pogrom?" Abraham's other entries talk about continuous killings, deportations, hiding, diseases, and hopes that things will get easier. They never did. His entry on September 15, 1942 said, "According to officials of the Jewish community the number of Jews remaining legally in Warsaw is 34,000, together with those in hiding 50,000. More than 300,000 Jews have been exterminated in the course of seven and a half weeks."
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising On April 19, 1943, the Jews remaining in the ghetto organized a resistance to attempt to prevent further Jews in the ghetto from being transported to camps. For the first few days, everyone was in sync and they fought off the SS relatively well. However, the Germans eventually overpowered the Jews, forcing them to resist as very small groups or individuals. Attempts to combat the SS ended around May 16. Approximately 42,000 Jews were deported, with 7,000 others killed during the fighting. The Polish Home Army tried to liberate Warsaw on August 1, 1944, but were defeated by October. The ghetto wouldn't be liberated until the Soviets recaptured Warsaw on January 17, 1945. |