This course discusses the Warsaw Ghetto, the largest Nazi ghetto in occupied Europe, and some of the earliest attempts to record its history. In studying this Jewish population, segregated by force in the capital of occupied Poland, the course will address several key issues concerning the terms of Jewish existence behind the ghetto walls as well as aspects of the contemporary interactions between Germans, Jews, and Poles. Course topics will include the Nazi establishment of the Jewish District, the Jewish authorities (the Judenrat), Jewish welfare institutions, daily life in the ghetto, ghetto culture, relations among Jews and Gentiles, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and other related aspects. Sources considered will range from recent scholarship to classic, historical works, and will include several important primary documents, such as ghetto diaries and memoirs.
HGS 554/754 - The Warsaw Ghetto