Prior to World War II Jewish community constituted 1/3 of Lodz inhabitants. It was something of a miracle that part of them left the city after the war had begun; however, many who stayed went through very hard times. In February 1940 in the area of the Old Town and Bałuty, i.e. the poorest part of Lodz, one of the biggest ghettos in Europe, which was the camp of slave work since its beginning, was created. Among other things, clothes for the Reich soldiers were manufactured there. Labor force was needed, which is why it was one of the longest-existing ghettos. It was closed in the summer of 1944.
Many of the ghetto inhabitants did not endure being locked up in inhuman conditions. They were dying of cold, hunger, and exhaustion, whereas part of them were transported to the extermination camps in Kulmhof am Ner (Chełmno nad Nerem) and Auschwitz (Oświęcim-Brzezinka). Out of over 200 thousand Jews who went through the Litzmannstadt Ghetto, only 5 – 12 thousand survived (exact numbers are now known). They are commemorated by the Survivors’ Park with the Monument of Poles Saving Jews, opened on the 60th anniversary of the liquidation of the ghetto. In the park, there are over 600 “memory trees” planted by those who survived the Litzmannstadt Ghetto.
Źródło mapy: www.lodzgetto.pl
