The Ghettos Essay

The Ghettos

The ghettos were places introduced by Nazi Germany in 1939, where Jews and some Gypsies were forcefully isolated and imprisoned. The ghettos were used to segregate and regulate the Jewish population. The first ghetto was founded in Poland, and others followed in various towns and cities. The ghettos' living conditions were dreadful, marked by overpopulation, poverty, and restricted access to necessities like food, healthcare, and sanitation. Curfews, prohibitions, and forced labour were all systems put in place by the Nazis to segregate Jews. In a sense, the ghettos marked the start of the Holocaust's systematic extermination of Jews. The ghettos gave the Nazis a straightforward way to gather and manage their victims before

The events that took place in the ghettos, the living conditions, and the transportation from ghettos to concentration camps showed how many moral codes nazis were willing to break in the name of nationalism. The photo shown above documents dozens of dead bodies being carried by SS soldiers through the ghettos. Deaths were not uncommon in the ghettos as the conditions of the ghettos were purposely overcrowded and left with scarce amounts of necessities such as food and healthcare. Jews and other residents of the ghettos were treated as an unfortunate necessity by the Nazis, they were used for free labour unless they were affected by the diseases floating around in the ghettos, then they were killed like insects. This highlights the disregard for the moral values of empathy and respect for all individuals. The atrocities committed by Nazis affected the lives of millions of people such as Dawid Sierakowiak. Dawid and his family were victims of the ghettos and David's diary entries display the slow descent of hopelessness that came with the conditions of the ghettos. David's mother was deported to a concertation camp because she was unable to give labour and was described by Nazis as a “questionable reserve” (Echoes & Reflections, n.d). This showcases how callously people were treated in the ghettos and only seen as an object to be used rather than the human beings

Germany continued its invasions while displacing thousands of Jews and others. This led to a large refugee situation during the war but due to the war, 'alien' immigration to New Zealand came to an end. Jewish refugees were no longer allowed to enter New Zealand after the war began, and immigrants who had previously settled there were not allowed to become citizens for the duration of the war (Holocaust NZ Timeline, n.d.). In New Zealand, the police and special "alien" authorities were given the power to deport, arrest, and interrogate "aliens," including Jewish refugees, in order to determine their loyalty (Holocaust NZ Timeline,