Lodz Ghetto was established in German-occupied Poland for the Jews and Romanies. It existed till 1944 and happens to be the last ghetto of Poland that was liquidated. Poland was attacked by Germany on 1st September, 1939. Lodz was taken over within a few days. This place had the second largest Jewish community of Europe. Lodz became a part of Third Reich on 7th November, 1939. The Germans changed the name of Lodz to Litzmannstadt. In order to distinguish Jews from Pole, the former were asked to wear an armband.
The governor of the Kalisz-Lodz District named Friedrich Ubelhor wrote a memorandum on 10th December, 1939. A planning was made by which it was decided to establish the ghetto of Lodz in the northern part. Finally on 8th February, 1940, the order for establishing Lodz Ghetto was declared. Jews from various parts of the city moved there.
However, the Jewish Lodz Ghetto was sealed on 1st May, 1940. The Nazis wanted that the Jews will take up the responsibility of their own expenses. They even thought of selecting a person from the Jews to take up the responsibility of the entire community. Mordekchai Chaim Rumkowski was chosen by them. He believed strongly in the autonomy of the ghetto and therefore introduced ghetto money in place of German currency. Besides, he opened a sewage clean up department a
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nd a post office.
Food was a big problem in Ghetto, Lodz as there was no farmland. Mordekchai Chaim Rumkowski was a far-sighted person. He sent a petition to the Nazis on 5th April, 1940 saying that the Nazis would supply raw materials that would be worked upon by the Jews. For this the Nazis would pay them money. This received acceptance on 30th April, 1940. But the Nazis said that instead of money, the workers will be paid food. Several factories were set up, where the Jews got jobs. But within a few days, the people started suffering from tuberculosis, typhus and dysentery. This created a rage among the people on Rumkowski. Rumkowski considered these people as a threat to his work and hence punished and deported them.
In 1941, 20,000 Jews from other places of Reich were transferred to ghetto. The condition became miserable when 5,000 Romanians joined the population. On 10th December, 1941, the Nazis announced that 20,000 Jews will be deported out of Lodz Ghetto. These people were deported to Chelmno death camp. About 34,073 people were deported to this place from 22nd February to 2nd April, 1942.
Heinrich Himmler gave the order to liquidate ghetto on 10th June, 1944. This ultimately became fruitful in August, 1944. The Soviet Union liberated ghetto on 19th January, 1945.
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