Ghettos

This theme focuses on how the Nazis forced large numbers of Jews into restricted housing areas, often enforced with walls, fences, and/or guard towers. Movement in and out of the ghettos was strictly controlled and violation was punishable by death.

Henry Greenblatt

Jewish Survivor

Henry talks about living in the Warsaw ghetto. He tells of his efforts to acquire food for his family and describes how he snuck in and out of the ghetto through rain gutters.

Gender: Male
DOB: Nov 1, 1930
City of birth: Warsaw
Country of birth: Poland
Ghettos: Warsaw (Poland), Siedlce (Poland)
Went into hiding: Yes
Other experiences: escapes from the ghettos, escapes during deportations, concealment of Jewish identity, orphanages and children's homes

 

  • Henry Greenblatt

    Language: English

    Jewish Survivor

    Henry talks about living in the Warsaw ghetto. He tells of his efforts to acquire food for his family and describes how he snuck in and out of the ghetto through rain gutters.

    Gender: Male
    DOB: Nov 1, 1930
    City of birth: Warsaw
    Country of birth: Poland
    Ghettos: Warsaw (Poland), Siedlce (Poland)
    Went into hiding: Yes
    Other experiences: escapes from the ghettos, escapes during deportations, concealment of Jewish identity, orphanages and children's homes

     

  • Nathan Peters

    Language: English

    Jewish Survivor

    Nathan recalls sharing a living space with his family in the ghetto and how they didn't get to shower everyday. He also recalls that children were not as concerned as the adults but wondered when everything was going to end.

    Gender: Male
    DOB: Dec 29, 1930
    City of birth: Ostrozec
    Country of birth: Poland
    Ghettos: Ostrozec (Poland)
    Went into hiding: Yes
    Other experiences: displaced persons camps, escapes from the ghettos

     

  • Helen Fagin

    Language: English

    Jewish Survivor

    Helen Fagin decribes the 'cultural resistance' through education in the Radomsko ghetto in Poland. She explains how reading a Polish translation of Gone With the Wind allowed her and her students to at least temporarily dream of a different world outside the reality of the ghetto.

    Gender: Female

    DOB: February 1, 1922

    City of Birth: Radomsko (Poland)

    Country of Birth: Poland

    Ghettos: Lódz (Poland : Ghetto); Warsaw (Poland:Ghetto); Radomsko (Poland: Ghetto)

    Went into hiding: Yes

    Other experiences: deportation escapes; identity concealment; displaced persons camps