Lodz Ghetto

Discussion in 'The Holocaust' started by Wise1, Oct 23, 2005.

  1. Wise1

    Wise1 There We Are Then

    You would think that everyone would band together and help each other get through, but when you look at the Lodz Ghetto you see the same issue with the Jews as you do with the Germans.

    Rumkowski was the Jewish leader of Lodz ghetto, he tortured, raped children and ruled the Ghetto with brute force, he had a group around him who inflicted as much pain and suffering on the Jews as the Nazis did (at least before they got to Belzec or Auschwitz.

    Fortunately Rumkowski found his way to Crematorium 5 at Auschwitz but the price he paid was far less than he deserved.
     
  2. Nick

    Nick Member

    Jesus, i have done a bit of reading on the holocaust and i have never heard of him, its hard to believe this happened, i guess it shows what people are capable in the correct environment

    nick
     
  3. Wise1

    Wise1 There We Are Then

    Thats the whole point, its the enviornment, given certain people power beyond that which they are capable of handling effectively and they turn to brutality. Of course I am in no doubt that the Nazis would have expected no less in return for his position of power within the Ghetto.
     
  4. Nick

    Nick Member

    lee
    its a fascinating subject, the Nazis you can expect to behave like this due to propaganda and being educated to believe these stories from a young age, but for a Jewish leader (Rabi ?)to have acted like this goes beyond all reason for me, this was surely a very bad apple in the barrel and obviously deserved everything that came his way
     
  5. Wise1

    Wise1 There We Are Then

    mmmm, not sure he was just a bad apple, survival in the ghetto was not all about out smarting the nazis, you had to survive, sometimes survial led to theft and violence when you could not organize the food or other goods that you needed.

    That said its really more down to the circumstances of the time rather than planned and deliberate acts of theft and violence if that makes sense.
     
  6. Nick

    Nick Member

    mmmm, not sure he was just a bad apple, survival in the ghetto was not all about out smarting the nazis, you had to survive, sometimes survial led to theft and violence when you could not organize the food or other goods that you needed.

    That said its really more down to the circumstances of the time rather than planned and deliberate acts of theft and violence if that makes sense.

    I can see that ,but raping children does not feed you,
     
  7. Wise1

    Wise1 There We Are Then

    That is certain.
     
  8. Marina

    Marina Senior Member

    It would be interesting to know about Rumkowski's behaviour as director of the orphanage before the war. I can well understand that in the desperate conditions of the ghettos, some would turn to theft and violence, but abuse of children? I think that must be his own nature. Hope he's still burning.
     
  9. Wise1

    Wise1 There We Are Then

    Little is known about his time as orphanage Director, however that said allegations of abuse by him were made but never followed up. I have yet to find details of any specifics.
     
  10. Kiwiwriter

    Kiwiwriter Very Senior Member

    ....rises to the surface in stormy seas and times of trial and social upheaval.

    The ghettos of Europe stood the normal rule of law and order on its side, and placed bullies, sadists, kleptomaniacs, and lunatics in charge. Criminals became police, poachers became gamekeepers, and monsters became lawgivers.

    We see this in desperate situations...collapse of normal standards of behavior. Whether it's the cannibalism of the football team stranded atop the Andes or the orgies that raged in the Reichchancellery in Berlin just before the Soviets arrived, or the bartenders on the Titanic declaring "Drinks on the house" 20 minutes before the ship sank, the written and unwritten rules by which we live often do not survive horror...particularly such complete and terrible horrors as the Holocaust.

    So it does not surprise me that in such a situation, those who had a keen eye for the main chance took it. Men of honor were often destroyed in the chaos, and others, environed by corruption and slaughter, blinded themselves to it, or took advantage of it to seek profit or survival.

    The Nazis took advantage of these tendencies in human nature and used them to their advantage.
     
  11. Wise1

    Wise1 There We Are Then

    This is Rumkowski meeting Himmler during a visit to the Lodz Ghetto, he is of course the one in the white hair.
     

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  12. laufer

    laufer Senior Member

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