Ghetto Web Quest

The First Ghetto

Go to the Jewish Virtual Library web site to find answers to the following questions:

What does the word ghetto mean to you? Do a quick-write on what you know about this subject.

What is the origin of the word ghetto?

What was the first ghetto? When was it established and for what reasons? Who were its inhabitants and where did they come from?

How was the Venice ghetto of the 15th and 16th century similar to the Warsaw ghetto described in Milkweed? In what ways did they differ?

What has become of the Venice ghetto today?

Jewish Ghettos of World War II.

Go to the web site:

Click on the DEFN button to get a snapshot of the ghettos of Eastern Europe during World War II. Write a description of what life was like in these ghettos.

How did the Nazi’s idea of the Jewish ghetto differ from those that existed in medieval times?

Click on the Photos button.

Look at the photos that portray life in the ghettos. Advance to the photo entitled, “Segregation.” What does it depict? Does this photo remind you of anything in U.S. history?

Advance to the photo entitled, “Street Scene.” Describe how the Jew and non-Jew are depicted. What does this suggest to you about the relationship between Jewish and non-Jewish Europeans during this time?

Go to the U.S. Holocaust Museum website:

In the search window, type in “Jewish Ghettos” and click “Enter.”

Select the first listing, “Ghettos in Poland.”

How many ghettos did the Nazis establish in occupied territories?

Which was the largest ghetto?

What did the Nazis do in the Lodz ghetto to keep Jews from escaping?

Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click on the highlighted word “ghettos” for more information on this subject. Click on the picture of Paula to read and listen to personal stories of Jews who lived in these ghettos.

Resistance

Go back to the original page of search results for “Jewish ghettos.”

Click on the link “Jewish Resistance” and read about the ways in which ghetto inhabitants defied Nazi rule.

Click on the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Write a paragraph describing this event.

The Shanghai Ghetto

Return to the Holocaust Museum home page and type in a search for the Shanghai ghetto. Read about this unique situation.

Where did most of the inhabitants come from and how did they wind up in Shanghai?

Click on the photo the read personal stories of the Jewish inhabitants of the Shanghai ghetto.

What were living conditions like?

What became of these inhabitants?