To summarise, the ghettos were the dirty, overcrowded, walled in parts of cities where the Nazis trapped Jews before they were sent to concentration camps. They were a stage in the Final Solution and helped the Nazis to round up and condition Jews before they attempted to wipe out the entire Jewish population of Europe.
Question 3
From the very outset it can be argued that Source A is unreliable evidence in that we do not know who took the film footage that it contains. We don’t know if it was made by an outsider trying to get across what was happening in the ghettos, or by a Nazi regarding what was occurring there for his superiors. However, we do know that the programme in which the film footage was included was anti-Nazi. On the other hand, we do not know if all of the footage was actually shot in the Warsaw ghetto, and whoever took this cinematic evidence would have been limited by the surrounding conditions.
On the other hand, the Source itself can be proven to be reliable by reference to other sources. For example, Source B, an extract from Martin Gilbert’s ‘Holocaust: The Jewish Tragedy’, confirms that the ghettos were located in large cities. “Polish Jews were to be concentrated in large cities,” and that Jews were to be isolated from the rest of the Warsaw population- “Orders would probably have to be given forbidding Jews to enter certain districts of the city altogether.” Source A agrees with Source C, an extract from Martin Gilbert’s ‘Final Journey: The Fate of the Jews in Nazi Europe’, in stating that the ghettos were to be walled in. “All Jews living outside the walls must move inside them.” The evidence of overcrowding in Source A is also confirmed as reliable by Source D, also from Martin Gilbert’s ‘Final Journey’. Also, it confirms Source D by saying that “Food was desperately short.” and shows emaciated children lying on the streets. However, not all of the sources confirm the reliability of Source A. Source D refers to “Musical evenings, lectures and reading groups.” But in Source A there are no signs of any such organised activities.
Overall, I believe that Source A is a reliable and accurate representation of life in the Warsaw ghetto. There are some doubts surrounding aspects of the film, but the confirmation of images in Source A by evidence from other sources outweighs these.
Question 4
In Source A, a Discovery Channel documentary, we get visual evidence of existence within in the ghetto. It shows a very low standard of life, in which the Nazis treat Jews worse than animals. We see dead bodies lying in the streets, which, later, are later shown being picked up and put on carts. People walk without a second look. Source D, from Martin Gilbert’s ‘Final Journey’ confirms that “Tens of thousands of Jews died”, and also mentions the “Starvation and sickness.” This gives a very clear picture of life in the ghettos- little food, and even if there was any, you might be too ill even to eat it. The actual amount of food was minimal. Source D states that “The food allocation by the Germans being only 194 calories per Jew per day.” This also confirms Source A, which also shows that overcrowding was also a major problem in the Warsaw ghetto. Source D confirms this, “Overcrowding increased… ‘average’ of thirteen people to a room, while thousands of others had no room at all.” Source D also states that “The Germans confiscated Jewish property.” And we see Nazi soldiers removing furniture from Jewish houses in Source A.
Source A does give quite an extensive picture of life in the Warsaw ghetto, but it shows primarily images of suffering and death. In Martin Gilbert’s ‘Final Journey’ it states that in the ghetto there were “Musical evenings, lectures and reading groups.” This fact- that Jews tried to maintain standards- is partially confirmed by Source E which states that there were “Occupational training programs, workshops, rationing systems, housing authorities, hospitals, ambulances and other services.” This suggests that even though the Jews were living in a poverty stricken environment, they still tried to maintain a civilised society, To me, that even though they were being extremely harshly treated, they wouldn’t let the Nazis take away all of their dignity. Source D also states that there were resistance groups, schools, seminaries and financial aid from America. However, none of the other sources confirm this.
When all of the sources are taken together, we are given an invaluable insight into many aspects of life in the Warsaw ghetto. There is the suffering and death, which Source A concentrates on- how dead bodies lay ignored on the street, how children were abandoned by their parents because they just couldn’t feed them, and how sickness spread so rapidly due to the high concentration of people. But, there were also attempts at keeping a civilised society as evidenced by Source E. Source D provides this most balanced view of life in the ghetto showing how attempts at a normal society occurred side by side with the barbaric treatment of Jews by the Nazis.
Question 5
Source F, a diary extract by Holocaust survivor Chaim Kaplan, provides a vital insight into Jewish reactions to the Holocaust. It refers to rumours about the shooting of hundreds of thousands of Jews and suggests that the Jews in the ghettos had a fatalistic attitude towards what was happening: “Everyone must wait until his time comes.” In effect many Jews just accepted their fate and made no attempt to avoid or change it. Indeed, some Jews tried to block out what was going to happen and pretended that it wasn’t real: “The masses in the ghetto worry about their routine affairs as though they still had a long life ahead of them.” However, according to Source F a lot of Jews clearly realised what was in store for them: “The intelligent and perceptive walk around like mourners.”
Source G is an extract from the book ‘Final Journey,’ by Martin Gilbert. It details both Jewish and German reactions and attitudes. It reveals that some Jews didn’t comply with the orders given to them by the Nazis. They hid in houses when it was time for them to leave. However, others just gave up. Indeed, the head of the Jewish Council, Adam Czerniakow, killed himself when the Nazis demanded 10,000 Jewish children for deportation: “They are demanding 10,000 for tomorrow.” This episode also highlights the ruthlessness and determination of the Nazis. The Jews, on the other hand, showed naivety. This is why the Germans tried to offer them food to go to the transfer point- they would receive “3 kilos of bread and 1 kilo of marmalade to take with them.” - it is also indicative of the extent to which the Jews were starving. Source G clearly indicates that the Nazis placed an emphasis on getting rid of Jewish children- hence the fact that they wanted 10,000 in one day. This would eliminate a future generation of Jews, and facilitate the complete extermination of the Jewish people. It is further evidence of how ruthless the Nazis actually were.
From Source Han extract from Raul Hilberg’s ‘The Destruction of European Jews,’ we learn that the Jews thought that the ghettos were the worst that they would have to go through: “They failed to think in terms of a further, more drastic stage in the destruction process.” This may have been because the Jews had fallen into a routine and so failed to think fully about their situation: “Members of the Jewish Councils all over Eastern Europe had fallen into a rhythm or pattern.” In effect they became too concerned with everyday realities and “The Germans kept the Jews in the dark about their intentions.” Once again, this shows the cunning of the Nazi leaders. If the Jews were kept unaware of the fact that there was more to come, they would be less likely to riot and would be easier to control. Such evidence highlights just how systematic the Nazis were.
Source I is a table showing population, deportation and death rates in the Warsaw ghetto and it is clearly compiled from Nazi records. There is little about actual Jewish attitudes in this table but it does suggest that they were ignorant of what was going on or were powerless to prevent it. However the source does reveal a lot about the Nazis. It confirms the evidence in Source G in that 99.1% if deaths in the ghetto were of young females, which suggests that the Nazis did not want reproduction amongst Jews. Source I also gives the impression that the Jews were thought of as nothing more than numbers, they were not people at all. The evidence also suggests that the process was very methodical. Above all, Source I shows just how cruel the Nazis were- and the killing of children typifies this. The Nazis did keep some Jews alive, but only so they could be used for labour. This can be seen in the fact that there is a low death rate of 80.4% and 76.9% respectively in the 20-29 and 30-39 male groups. This also confirms the cruelty of the Nazis- they kept Jewish men for their usefulness as labourers, then when they were too starving and exhausted, they were sent to their deaths.
Daniel Goldhagen, a revisionist historian, is the author of Source J. According to his account, most of the German population either took part in or endorsed what was going on in the holocaust. However, this ignores several key points. Nazi Germany was a police state, so no one would have dared object to what was happening in the Holocaust. That does not mean that the Germans agreed with it- they were simply too frightened to say anything. Moreover, according to Source B, the Final Solution was to be kept strictly secret. Indeed Source J is a very subjective account, partly because it was written by a Jewish historian and Goldhagen is understandably angry at what happened. So although Source J does not tell us about Jewish reactions during the Holocaust, it does tell us of them afterwards- future generations are obviously upset and outraged at what a preceding generation went through.
Overall, these sources give us a vivid insight into Jewish and German reactions to the Holocaust. However, the German reactions cited are mainly Nazi, and cannot be used to condemn every German for what occurred.