Key Points
Establishment
The ghetto in Łódź, Poland’s second largest city and major industrial center, was established in early 1940, shortly after the German invasion of Poland. Initially, the ghetto was home to about 164,000 Jews from Łódź and surrounding areas, as well as Jews and Roma and Sinti deported from other parts of Europe. It was most severely insulated from its surroundings and from other ghettos.
Living Conditions
The living conditions in the ghetto were extremely harsh. Overcrowding was rampant, with families crammed into small, inadequate living spaces. Basic necessities, including food, clean water, and sanitation, were severely lacking, leading to widespread disease and malnutrition. Most of the ghetto had neither running water nor a sewer system
Forced Labor
Unlike some other ghettos, the Łódź Ghetto was utilized primarily as a labor camp. Many inmates were forced to work in factories and workshops that produced goods for the German war effort, such as textiles, leather, and munitions. The ghetto became an important center for forced labor during the war.
Deportations
Between September 1942 and May 1944, there were no major deportations from Lodz. During this period, the ghetto resembled a forced-labor camp. Throughout the ghetto's existence, there were several waves of deportations. In 1944, the Nazis began mass deportations of ghetto residents to extermination camps, particularly Auschwitz. Many residents were transported under the guise of "relocation" for work, but the true fate was often death.
Resistance and Organization
Despite the oppressive conditions, a degree of social and cultural life persisted in the ghetto. Jewish organizations provided education, cultural events, and social services to the residents. However, resistance against the Nazis was limited due to the dire circumstances.
Administration
The ghetto was overseen by a Jewish Council (Judenrat), which was responsible for managing the day-to-day affairs of the ghetto and implementing Nazi orders, including the forced labor system. Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Judenrat, hoped to prevent the destruction of the ghetto by making it as productive as possible. He gambled that making Jewish labor essential to German factories would spare Jews from eventual deportation and preserve the Lodz ghetto until the end of the war. He believed that labor would give the Jews an opportunity to go on living and the hope to survive. Thus, he established a multifaceted system in which the Jews of the ghetto worked for the Germans, including workshops that employed even young children. However, Rumkowski was forced to prepare lists of candidates for deportation and organize the rounding up of the Jews. He was unsuccessful in his attempts to lower the quota of Jews for deportation. By the end of the year, almost half of the Jews interned in Lodz had been murdered in Chelmno
Liberation
In the spring of 1944, the Nazis decided to liquidate the Łódź Ghetto. By then, Lodz was the last remaining ghetto in German-occupied Poland, with a population of approximately 75,000 Jews in May 1944. In June and July 1944, the Germans resumed deportations from Lodz, and about 7,000 Jews were deported to Chelmno. The ghetto residents were told that they were being transferred to work camps in Germany. The Germans deported almost all the surviving ghetto residents to the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center in August 1944. By the time Soviet troops liberated the area in January 1945, only a small number of survivors remained. Most of the ghetto's residents had been deported and murdered in extermination camps.
