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Cameron Gallagher
Mr. Hawkins
Modern World History-P Period 4
8 April 2016
Ghettos during the Holocaust
Before the Jews in Europe started to suffer and die in German camps, they were put into
things called ghettos. Ghettos were sectioned off parts of the city surrounded by walls and barbed
wire fences. The purpose of theses ghettos were to basically get free labor from the Jews and to
give Germany time to orchestrate a plan about getting rid of them. In the Jews perspective they
had no idea to what was about to come, they just thought that ghettos would better themselves
and their religious beliefs. Three things that make a better understanding for what ghettos are, are
that they werent originally the Nazis idea, within these ghettos there were poor living conditions
and scarce resources, and lastly the Nazis intentions were completely unseen by the Jews.
Ghettos were used by many cultures way before the Nazis ever used them, ghettos
werent originally the Nazis idea. The ghetto was not a Nazi invention. Its origins can be
traced back to medieval times, when restrictions on the places where Jews were allowed to
reside were commonplace throughout Europe (Evidence 1). This states that for many ages
ghettos were used against certain races throughout Europe. It also says that the Nazis didnt
invent it, they just used them to a greater extent. For example, in 1791, Catherine the Great
created the Pale of Settlement in western Russia. Most Jews were only allowed to reside
within the Pale, and even there some cities were prohibited to them (Evidence 1). This

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shows that Nazi Germany wasnt the only country that used this tactic. The Russians used
ghettos for Jews more than 100 years before the Nazis. Even earlier, in 1290, Edward I had
expelled all Jews from England. They were not to be officially permitted to return until the
time of Oliver Cromwell in 1655. (Evidence 1). At one point the Jews in England were
completely kicked out of the country. It had the same idea as a ghetto but they werent physically
locked in a town or city. The history to ghettos is a very important aspect to what ghettos are, but
the way the Nazis used them is too.
Compared to past uses of ghettos the Nazis ghettos were very strict and a little brutal,
there were barely any resources and terrible living conditions. If the Jews would carry out
their orders and prove that they were beneficial to the Nazis by their work, they would be
allowed to organize their community life as they wished (Evidence 2). This was when the
Nazis first started to give orders and put limitations on the Jews. This quote shows how strict the
Nazis were being against the Jews, and this was just the beginning. Though it was often
forbidden for Jews to pass through those openings under penalty of death, the physical
border did not stop give-and-take with the locals. Food, medicine, and heating fuel were
regularly smuggled into the ghettos (Evidence 3). Within these ghettos the Jews didnt have a
lot to eat or enough resources to survive. The Jews had no choice but to escape through the
openings then bring in materials for the community even if it meant death. If within the ghetto,
they presumed they would somehow be safer, as they would no longer interact with nonJews in quite the same way and be freed of daily humiliations and dangers. (Evidence 2).
This was the only thing that was good for the Jews while living in the ghettos. They were able to
escape from the Germans for a little and not be criticized for who they were. Even though when
the Germans did come into the ghetto they did criticize and put the Jews to work. The ghettos

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that the Germans used to put the Jews in were pretty bad because of the poor living conditions,
but the worst part about the ghettos was that the Jews had no idea of the intentions of the
Germans.
Ghettos were just temporary living spaces for the Jews that were meant for the Germans
to figure out what they were going to do with all the Jews. The first Nazi ghettos were never
intended to be more than temporary, an interim concentration of Jews pending a decision
concerning what the final solution of the Jewish question: was going to be. (Evidence 1).
The Nazis at the time werent completely sure what they were going to do with all the Jews in
Europe. The Germans knew that they wanted to eliminate the Jewish race, but they were also
smart about it, they took their time and killed the Jews step by step. Although ghettoization as
such was never introduced in the Reich itself, and only slowly appeared in the countries
occupied by Germany, its effect was intentionally lethal (Evidence 1). The Germans didnt
want people to know exactly what they were up to with the Jewish race. So the Germans would
slowly move from country to country putting the Jews into ghettos. The Jews had no idea of the
Germans intentions which made the ghettos even worse, ghettos were the beginning of the
holocaust, and it all couldve easily been avoided.
Ghettos had poor living conditions and scarce resources, the Nazis intentions were
completely unseen by the Jews, and they werent originally the Nazis idea. These are three main
points to what ghettos were in history and what they are today. The ghettos that the Nazis used to
hold the Jews were terrible things that were being used all throughout Europe. The Nazis were
smart at what they did so they didnt make it too noticeable that they were going to kill millions
of innocent Jews. They took very small steps one at a time which made them succeed their

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accomplishment. The ghettos were the beginning of the Nazis so no one knew what was soon to
come, but if they did it wouldnt have happened.