What Was the Liquidation of the Ghettos?

The ghettos ultimately served as a short-term solution for the isolation of Jewish communities before their liquidation. Beginning in the spring of 1942, the Nazi regime began systematically emptying the ghettos and deporting their inhabitants to extermination camps like Treblinka and Auschwitz-Birkenau. While most Eastern European ghettos were destroyed by 1944, the process in Hungary was more abrupt: most ghettos there were established as temporary holding areas, often existing for only weeks before residents were deported to Auschwitz. By the end of the war, the centuries-old vibrant Jewish life had been almost entirely erased. Watch the full reel to hear about the harrowing final days of the ghettos.