Ghetto Conditions
The conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto were uninhabitable. The original ghetto was 3.5 square miles, with 450,000 inhabitants. It was reduced to 1000 by 300 yards after 85% of the Jews were eliminated. Food rations were 200 calories a day, approximately 10 percent of the German food ration. Books, schools, and daily activities were forbidden. Ghetto dwellers were overseen by the Judenrat, a council of Jewish elders appointed by the Nazis to carry out orders. The SS and Gestapo oversaw the Judenrat. They also had the authority to shoot and kill any Jew.
Survivor Estelle Laughlin remembers " I was born in Warsaw -- a beautiful city, with many parks, and rich in culture. Before the war I thought that Warsaw was the fairest city in the world. I just turned ten when Germany invaded Warsaw. My once peaceful streets were soon patrolled by foreign soldiers with clicking boots and rifles. They rationed food, closed our schools and made books illegal. We had no electricity, no transportation, no telephones and we could not reach friends even in an emergency. They isolated us in a tiny ghetto, built a thick wall around it and named it "Totkasten," death box.They filled the ghetto with Jews driven out of surrounding areas. Their number far exceeded the available housing and food. Most died of cold and starvation. People covered the dead bodies of children with posters saying, "Our children must live -children are the holiest thing."
Survivor Estelle Laughlin remembers " I was born in Warsaw -- a beautiful city, with many parks, and rich in culture. Before the war I thought that Warsaw was the fairest city in the world. I just turned ten when Germany invaded Warsaw. My once peaceful streets were soon patrolled by foreign soldiers with clicking boots and rifles. They rationed food, closed our schools and made books illegal. We had no electricity, no transportation, no telephones and we could not reach friends even in an emergency. They isolated us in a tiny ghetto, built a thick wall around it and named it "Totkasten," death box.They filled the ghetto with Jews driven out of surrounding areas. Their number far exceeded the available housing and food. Most died of cold and starvation. People covered the dead bodies of children with posters saying, "Our children must live -children are the holiest thing."
First Signs: Deportations
Before late July 1942, there were rumors in the Warsaw Ghetto about 'resettlements', but no perceived need for resistance. The Germans even relaxed polices, such as curfew. While by no means better than life outside the ghetto, this relaxation of policies was thought to be a sign of a new, more liberal course for the Jews in Warsaw. Then, without provocation, on Wednesday, July 22, 50 Jews were dragged from their homes and shot in the street. Others were marched to what would later be known as the Umschlagplatz (collecting point). Later that day, the Ukrainian militia surrounded the Ghetto. The time for deportations had arrived.
SS and Gestapo Torture
On the day the deportations began, the SS and Gestapo gave orders to the head of the Judenrat, Adam Czerniakow, to send 7,000 Jews to the concentration camps PER DAY. The next day, Czerniakow committed suicide, unable to bear the guilt of sending his own people to their death.
First Signs: Active Resistance
None of the Jews knew where they were going after the Umschlagplatz, but many assumed it would be a work camp. Active resistance in the Ghetto was rare until January 1943. The newly formed ZOB (Jewish Fighting Organization) was fully aware of the destination of Jews after the Umschlagplatz, which was the death camp Treblinka. They were preparing to fight.