Concentration: Camps & Ghettos

Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Jews were forcibly moved to cordoned-off areas of cities referred to as ghettos. While in these spaces, resources were scarce and mobility was severely limited. These ghettos, which were established across Nazi-occupied Europe, were regularly patrolled by a combination of armed Nazi troops, local troops, and Jewish police. The Jews sent to live in these ghettos often did their best to retain some modicum of everyday life under these new restrictions. Ultimately, those forced into the ghettos were sent to concentration camps or murdered. By August of 1941, the surviving Jews of Lithuania were sent to concentration camps in Germany. At concentration camps, prisoners were provided meager rations and forced to work under inhumane conditions.