The video footage of the Warsaw ghetto, which may have been filmed by one of Hitler’s men to show him their good work, reveals that the ghettos were very cramped and dirty. That men and women were not segregated. It also showed us how thin people were. Which was not surprising as we were already in formed that the Jews had only one hundred and eighty four calories per day to survive on one hundred thousand people died before the first train to Auschwitz.
Source A states that Hitler said “I must get rid of the Jews they are an element of revolt”. This is supported by a Nazi propaganda campaign in which the Jews were compared to rats. Source A suggests that Hitler only dared what was feasible at the time. This conveys to us that Hitler wanted to wipe out the Jews but he could only do this in stages. So the ghettos were only one stage towards the ultimate aim. So the first stage for the Polish Jews was to go to the Warsaw ghetto the next stage was to go to Auschwitz.
Source B agrees with source A that ghettos were as stage towards the ultimate aim it states that “a distinction must be made between what he called the ultimate aim, which requires a prolonged period of time and the stages leading to the fulfilment of this ultimate aim”. Source B like source A refers to the polish Jews it says “ Polish Jews were to be concentrated in the larger cities”. This statement also means that ghettos were the concentration of Jews in cites. At the end of source B the statement “forbidding Jews to enter certain districts of that city altogether” is used. This implies that ghettos were the concentration of Jews in certain areas. This partially agrees with source A however it does not mentions walls. It conveys that ghettos were for Jews to live in this also supports source A.
Source C agrees with source A that ghettos were walled of areas for Jews to live in “all Jews living outside the walls must move inside them, and all poles living inside the ghetto must leave”. This quotation also agrees with source B that the ghettos were areas for Jews to live in. It does not state this but it implies it and since it refers to Polish people we presume it was the Warsaw ghetto. It also implies that the reason for ghettos was to separate Jews from other people.
How reliable is source A as a representation of life in the Warsaw ghetto?
Source A is a video clip from a documentary style program that was shown on the Discovery channel. The fact that it was shown on the Discovery channel implies that the information is authentic and has been well researched. However the title of the documentary is “Hitler the criminal” which conveys that Hitler is evil. Obviously the information that is included in it will support the title. Therefore they information could be bios, portraying that Hitler is bad and that the Jews are good. Therefore its intended audience will be people that dislike Hitler.
The reliability of source A is enhanced by the fact that the dates in it relate to the dates of the actual events for example it said that the Warsaw ghetto was walled up in October 1940 and this was around the time that ghettos were created. Its reliability is also supported by the fact that the video footage is in black and white.
The video clip is secondary evidence however it contains primary evidence i.e. the footage from the Warsaw ghetto. This footage portrays the ghettos as unhealthy and dirty. The people must have been starving as the appeared to be very skeletal. However we are not told who videoed the footage or why it was videoed. But I think the most likely person to video this footage was one of Hitler’s soldiers to show him their good work. If it was one of Hitler’s soldiers the video clip may have been staged to show him that the Jews were being treated worse than the actually were. We also must acknowledge the fact that the video clip is over fifty years old and we don’t know were it has been for all this time. We don’t know if it is in its original state or if has been tampered with during this time.
Source A includes a witnesses account she is an elderly lady that actually lived in the Warsaw ghetto. She said that it was like “being caught in a trap” and that it took a long time for someone to die of starvation. What she said supports the video footage of the ghetto. This increases its reliability. However we have to take into consideration that the lady was quite young when this happened and that her memories may have been affected by hindsight. So the could possibly be exaggerated.
Overall I don’t think that Source A is a totally reliable representation of life in the Warsaw ghetto because it leaves to many questions unanswered and it only lasts a short time which is not long enough to represent something that went on for years. To get a correct representation of life in the Warsaw ghetto we would require access to a broader range of sources and additional evidence from Jewish people who lived there for example a diary entry.
To what extent do sources A, D and E give a full/accurate picture of life in the Warsaw ghetto?
Sources A, D and E give a range of information about the Warsaw ghetto. Source A is a video clip from a documentary called “Hitler the criminal” which was shown on the Discovery channel. As this documentary was shown on the Discovery channel we could assume that it was well researched however this information may be biased, as it had to support the title. The documentary contains actual footage of the Warsaw ghetto, which portrays the ghettos as overcrowded, cold and dirty. It shows that the people were starving and we can see that there was no segregation between men and women. The actual video clip conveys that ghettos were unhealthy as it said that they were walled up for fear of an epidemic. It contains a witness account from the Warsaw ghetto she said that being in the ghetto was like being caught in a trap. She also implied that it took someone a long time to die from starvation and that it was a slow torturous death. Although an eyewitness account is usually reliable there is the possibility that the witness may have been affected by hindsight. Source A stated that one hundred thousand people died before the first train to Auschwitz.
Source D is an extract from a book called Final journey written by Martin Gilbert. He is a famous English historian and author. He was also Jewish so we could speculate that the information is bias however he seems to convey both sides. He has written a book on the Holocaust so we assume that he is very familiar with it. Source D supports source A as it made reference to overcrowding in ghettos by saying “over crowding increased…average of 13 people to a room, while thousands had no room at all”. It also agreed that there were people starving in the ghettos as it said, “Tens of thousands of Jews have died of starvation. It also agreed with source A that the Jews were given a set amount of calories per day however the amount of calories is different source A stated that the Jews were given 184 calories per day while source D says that “the food allocation allowed by the Germans being only194 calories per Jew per day. Source D may also support source A when it used the word “isolation” this implies that the ghettos were walled of areas; this is clearly stated in source A “ghettos walled of for fear of epidemics.
Source D conveys that some good things happened in the ghettos as it said “charitable organisations were set up…musical evenings, lectures and reading groups were formed, finical aid from Jews in America…enable soup kitchens to be maintained… Illegal schools were organised and religious seminaries worked in secret”. These things were not mentioned in source A however it does not mean that they are not true. Source A does not mention a resistance to the ghettos however source D does “Resistance groups were also organised (no weapons)”. Source also mentions that there were “Illegal magazines and pamphlets published”. I would question this piece of information because source D also said “Systematically, the Germans confiscated Jewish property, even inside the ghetto”. If they Germans confiscated the Jews property where would they have got the equipment to print magazines and pamphlets? However this piece of information may be true, I would just like to see one of these booklets.
Source E was written by Paul Hilberg who we assume was German, so there may be an aspect of bias in this source. However it may be reliable because it was quoted in Gilberts Holocaust. Source E challenges source D because in source D it conveyed that Jews had no way of earning money in the ghettos it says “without any means of earning a living” were as source E implies that the Jews had ways of earning it said “There were occupational training programs, workshops”. It agrees with sources A and D that the Jews food was rationed it said “rationing systems”. Source E portrays that there were health services in the ghettos “hospitals, ambulances and other services in the ghettos” this was not mentioned in sources A and D but that does not mean it’s not true.
Overall I do not think sources A, D and E are enough to give you a full picture of life in the Warsaw ghetto. Source A is a video clip that only lasts a short time and it may have been edited. Sources D and E are short extracts with pieces of information taken out of them. To get an accurate picture of life in the Warsaw ghetto along with the sources I already have I would need some facts about how many people died etc. A newspaper report or diary entry would also give me a clearer picture of what life was like in the Warsaw ghetto.
Source J states that a “number of ordinary representative Germans became – and most of the rest of their fellow Germans were fit to be Hitler’s willing executioners”. Using sources F, I, K, L, M, N and O explain whether or not you agree with this view.
Source F is a diary entry written by Chaim Kaplan, 11th July, 1942 quoted by Gilbert’s Holocaust. This is a primary source and it is obviously going to be one sided. It says “In the second and third weeks of July (1942) news reached the ghettos from the rest of Poland of the shootings of hundreds and thousands” this shows to us that the Jews that were in the ghettos new about the mass killings that occurred. In source F it also says “ On the very eve of their death, the masses in the ghetto worry about their routine affairs as though they still had a long life ahead of them. But the intelligent and perceptive walk around like mourners”. This is a big quote taken out of the diary which contains a lot of information in his thoughts and tells us that most of the Jews took into consideration what was going to happen but some of them just passed no remarks and continued to live life as normal and at the end of that statement it says “But the intelligent and perceptive walk around like mourners” which shows that the intelligent ones new what was going to happen so they just walked around like mourners. Source F is from a Jewish point of view and shows that the Jews new that they were going to die but they all reacted in different ways some just accepted, some were determined to live. This agrees with the source J but it is very bias and not reliable enough.
Source I is two tables stating the Population and Death Rates: Warsaw and Deportation of the population of Warsaw by age and sex: 1942. This source is more precise and reliable information. By the table showing deportation of the population of the Warsaw ghetto by age and sex in 1942 shows that from a Nazis point of view old people were of non – use as 100% of them were sent to concentration camps. The populations are also divided into male, female and children which shows how organised the Nazis were. This all shows that Germans have seen this but didn’t try to make a difference and stop it. This supports Source J. It brings in the question of also did Germans believe in what is happening was right or where they just afraid.
Source K is an extract from “The Final Solution” Gerald Reitlinger (1961). This source talks about Germans bound to know what was going on with the Jews. “It is difficult to believe that there existed in Germany or German occupied Europe anyone who did not know that most of the Jews had disappeared, and had not heard some story that they had been shot or gassed”. This shows that Gerald Reitlinger found it hard to believe that nobody new what was going on at this time. He then clearly states that people have bound to have heard about what was happening by ending on a fact and figure to support his statement “More than a million people must have known such things and whispered about them”. Source K brings us a bit to reality and shows that the German people must have known. It makes us think to agree more with source J.
Source L is ‘Public Opinion under Nazism’ David Bankler (1992) this source has a lot of facts in it. It tells us that Germans definitely now know of what is happening to the Jews and it gives them facts and figures to prove that it is true. It tells us that the people of Germany were now being told what is happening. “Ruth Andreas Friedrich mentions an SS man who vaingloriously declared in a suburban train that 2,000 Jews were being murdered every week in Auschwitz. This sort of information, like that of the mass shootings, was divulged by army personnel in casual conversation” this tells people that the German armies all new what was happening and they didn’t really care. “The Us Air Force scattered 9 million copies of a leaflet referring specifically to the massive and systematically murder of European Jewry as one of the most terrifying crimes recorded in history. Various leaflets gave concrete details of the extermination centres”. This is more facts and figures.
Source M ‘Die Wesse Rose’ ed Inge Scholl, Fischer Verslag (1955). This is a Primary Source it is obviously going to be bias. He talks about everyone not worrying about it they just accept it “Hardly anyone seems to worry about it. The situation is just accepted as such without further debate”. He also agrees with source J by saying “and the German nation goes on sleeping its dull stupid sleep, giving these Fascist criminal the boldness and opportunity to storm ahead – and they do” this tells us that he thinks Germans know but they just pretend they don’t know. This source agrees with source J.
Source N from “The Era of the Second World War “ Philips Sauvain (1993) This is from a American serviceman which first brings to mind that its going to be one sided. He says after the war he brought Germans round concentration camps. “When the people saw what the camp was like and were led through the chambers and past the ovens, men and women screamed and fainted. Others were led away crying hysterically”. This shows that maybe the Germans outside the camps didn’t no or maybe they just didn’t realise how bad it was.
Source O quoted in “In Hitler’s Germany: B Engelmann (1988) this tells us that the Germans new but didn’t believe in it they had trusted the Nazis. It tells us that once the Germans seen what happened they were completely shocked “Mother suffered a nervous breakdown. It took her a long time to recover”. This disagrees with Source J.
After analysing the sources I have come to the conclusion that the German Army didn’t care but the German people didn’t believe in the rumours at the time and if some of them did they were to afraid because Hitler was too vicious.
