What was life like in a Jewish ghetto?

Answer 1

Life was terrible. you were under Nazi rule. The Jews in the ghettos were completely dependent on the Nazis and the Judenrat (Jewish council) for food, water and medication. so many people died of starvation, thirst, and disease. It was always overcrowded. Fear of being murdered or deported was constant. Everyday more and more Jews were sent to death camps.

Answer 2

Ghettos have existed for the Jewish communities of Europe and the Islamic World (to a lesser extent) for over 1000 years. They encompassed a number of different scenarios and lifestyles, so it is difficult to really encompass them all.

Venetian Ghetto

The Venetian Ghetto, which is actually where the term comes from, is emblematic of ghettos worked. The areas where Jews were allowed to live were walled off from the rest of Canareggio district in Venice. There were height restrictions on buildings as well, leading to general overcrowding and lack of sanitation. These ghettos were ruled autonomously by two major community pillars: the Rabbis at the Beit Din or Courthouse and the Kahal or Board of Trustees.

The Rabbi and Beit Din (which would have several Rabbis serving as judges) would be the moral leadership of the community and would represent the community to the Gentile authorities as a singular leader. He was also the judge or arbitrator for legal disputes and religious disputes within the community. The Kahal was appointed by some of the wealthier Jewish families and was composed entirely of Jewish laity. Gentile Authorities permitted the Kahal to maintain Law and Order within the ghetto on a more practical level. Among the Kahal's duties was to collect taxes both on their own behalf (to maintain local police, feed the rabbi, etc.) and on behalf of the Gentile sovereign. The Kahal would then present a representative of the Gentile Sovereign, like a tax collector, the fees for the entire Jewish community.

Moroccan Mellah

In Morocco, Jewish Quarters were called "Mellah", but the term "quarter" is misleading since the area was surrounded by a wall with a fortified gateway, with a curfew at 21:00 every night. Usually, the Jewish quarter was situated near the royal palace or the residence of the governor, in order to protect its inhabitants from recurring riots since its inhabitants played a vital role in the local economy. The division of authority was similar to the Venetian ghetto, although Rabbis played a more direct administrative role in Morocco than they would in Venice and the Kahal was correspondingly weaker.

Nazi Ghettos

During World War II, the Nazis created a number of artificial ghettos by cordoning off parts of cities that had a Jewish population and forcing the Jews to live exclusively in those areas. There was intentional overcrowding to a degree far greater than in the ghettos of the past. This resulted in dozens of people living in one apartment. Life in the Jewish Ghettos was hard. The food was terrible and they had no piped water or electricity. The ghetto was a place where the Jews were forced to go. It was a walled or fenced in area. The Nazis uprooted Jews from their homes and took them to these ghettos. They then escorted all of the other people out of the ghetto. Some ghettos were closed and some were open. These ghettos were policed by the SS. Attempts to bring additional food, water, clothing, or materials into the ghetto would be met with summary execution by SS Officers.

Within the ghettos, the SS Officers would chose Jews they believed to be competent to sit on councils called Judenrat. The function of Judenrat was modeled on the Kahal whereby the Judenrat members would enforce law and order within the ghettos. The Judenrat was also expected to draw up lists of deportees that the Nazis could then take to the extermination camps. Some Judenrat members chose to be executed themselves rather than make the lists, but many others resigned themselves to this work, with some turning it into a corrupt bargaining game with individuals in the ghetto bribing their way off of lists.

Answer 3

During World War II, the Nazis created a number of artificial ghettos by cordoning off parts of cities that had a Jewish population and forcing the Jews to live exclusively in those areas. There was intentional overcrowding to a degree far greater than in the ghettos of the past. This resulted in dozens of people living in one apartment. Life in the Jewish Ghettos was hard. The food was terrible and they had no piped water or electricity. The ghetto was a place where the Jews were forced to go. It was a walled or fenced in area. The Nazis uprooted Jews from their homes and took them to these ghettos. They then escorted all of the other people out of the ghetto. Some ghettos were closed and some were open. These ghettos were policed by the SS. Attempts to bring additional food, water, clothing, or materials into the ghetto would be met with summary execution by SS Officers.

Within the ghettos, the SS Officers would chose Jews they believed to be competent to sit on councils called Judenrat. The function of Judenrat was modeled on the Kahal whereby the Judenrat members would enforce law and order within the ghettos. The Judenrat was also expected to draw up lists of deportees that the Nazis could then take to the extermination camps. Some Judenrat members chose to be executed themselves rather than make the lists, but many others resigned themselves to this work, with some turning it into a corrupt bargaining game with individuals in the ghetto bribing their way off of lists.

Answer 4

Life in the Ghettos was bad because food was scarce, it was unhygienic and there was little living space.