2.+Entering+the+ghetto

Entering the Ghetto There was no escaping. There was really no going anywhere. Everyone tried to hide. The ghetto enclosed many bunkers, which were often filled with men and women hiding from the guards and German citizens. Solomon was forced to clear snow from the railroad tracks when he first moved into the ghetto. He had to give up and valuables and was not allowed to take any jewelry, gold, or anything of any value. They could carry small packs with necessary items and very few clothing items. He occupied the Warsaw Ghetto. This ghetto was the largest of the ghettos, containing a total of 400,000 people. Every meal consisted of bread and soup for lunch everyday. Bread and coffee was the evening meal. They lived off of the very minimal and many starved. In order to obtain anything other than the given food, the Jews had to scavenge for food and find smuggled food by the outside gates. He was a furrier and worked in Tobbens' Shop. He made lamb's wool jackets for the Germany army members. Due to his hardworking job, a German spoke of his great work. This allowed him to return to the shop when he was picked out of the crowd and almost killed. He witnessed the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and was shot in the foot during the uprising. This occurred on May 1, 1943. The bullet did not penetrate the bone.

Ghettos were created covering a few streets and included a small area of land. People who lived in this defined area were allowed to stay in their houses. Others who were coming in had to find their own space. Many opened their houses up to friends and relatives as a place to stay. The ghettos would never have the same people forever. Once one group was removed, the next would come. When people began being deported, they were forced to give up all valuables. Some would bury their valuables that they tried to hide rather than give up. The new ghetto enters would have many of these abandoned belongings at the beginning of their stay. Everytime another group would leave, more leftover belongings were spread through the ghetto. The Warsaw Ghetto was established on October 12, 1940. It was fully separated from the rest of Poland that November. It occupied only 1.3 miles. With 400,000 Jews, seven to eight people had to live in one room. Starvation and disease were the most relevant causes of reoccur death by illness. With only small rations to eat, medicine and food were smuggled into the ghetto to prevent death. Between July and September of 1942, extreme amounts of people were deported to Treblinka killing camp. 265,000 Jewish men, women, and children were moved between these two camps. This camp was divided into the reception, living, and killing sections. Jews were continually deported; next to Majdanek. "When Soviet troops resumed their offensive on January 17, 1945, they liberated a devastated Warsaw. According to Polish data, only about 174,000 people were left in the city, less than six per cent of the prewar population. Approximately 11,500 of the survivors were Jews" (Holocaust States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia: Warsaw). For more about the Warsaw ghetto and the people who lived in it [|click here.]

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