the meaning of the words: a ghetto
It’s ...
An urban area, often fenced in, established by the Nazi authorities during the Second World War, where Jews were forced to reside in territories occupied by Germany.
The first ghettos opened in 1939, after the invasion of Poland by the Nazi regime; Piotrkow Trybunalski was the first to see the light on 8 October 1939. In total, nearly 1,000 ghettos were created in central and eastern Europe during the Second World War.
What are the living conditions of the Jews in the ghettos created by Nazi Germany?
The ghettos responded to a logic of exclusion, control and dehumanization. The Nazis controlled and limited supplies. Nearly one million Jews died in the ghettos, victims of hunger, cold and disease.
From 1942, with the implementation of the 'Final Solution', the ghettos became part of the logic of systematic murder of the Jews of Europe: they were liquidated by the Nazis and the Jewish populations deported to killing centers.
In the Warsaw ghetto, the largest in Poland, more than 400,000 Jews were crammed into an area of about 3.3 square kilometers.
When and how did the term 'ghetto' appear?
The Venetian word ghetto means 'foundry'; it is also a derivative of ghettare, 'throw away'.
The term refers to the Jewish quarter of Venice, created in 1516, on the site of a former foundry. It is a closed neighborhood from which Jews can only leave during the day. Under conditions, they can engage in economic activity.
In 1797, with the advance of Napoleonic troops, the gates of the Venice ghetto are demolished. The emancipation of Venetian Jews continues throughout the nineteenth century: they enjoy equal rights in 1866 when Venice becomes part of the Kingdom of Italy.
Today, what about it?
Nowadays, the term "ghetto" is often used to describe urban neighborhoods characterized by the concentration of socially marginalized groups. This use of the word 'ghetto' is often associated with negative connotations, evoking relegated neighborhoods where poverty, crime, unemployment and other social problems are predominant.
If someone tells me: "There was no resistance in the ghettos."
I answer:
During the period from 1941 to 1943, underground resistance movements emerged in many ghettos. These movements have taken various forms, whether spiritual, cultural or armed resistance; they aim to preserve the dignity and cultural identity of the Jews.
The insurrection of the Warsaw ghetto, a real armed resistance against Nazi oppression, began on April 19, 1943.
Furthermore, with the group Oyneg Shabbes (delights of Shabbat), Emanuel Ringelblum undertakes to collect the archives of the ghetto in order to resist the programmed annihilation of the Jews of Poland.
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