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The Lódz Ghetto: The Deterioration of Jews' Physical Condition in the Lodz Ghetto

(July 17, 1942)

“The deterioration of the Jews' physical condition has had an adverse effect on work and productivity. Consequently, the Judenaelteste has decided to draft all children aged 10 and above for labor to keep up with the army's orders. Despite the poor nutrition, the Jews are still trying to do their work properly. Roughly 70,000 Jews are employed in the ghetto to fill the army's orders, and we shall be able to use them for work in three shifts until the end of the year... The Jews' medical condition has worsened threefold... For several months, average mortality has exceeded 1,800 a month.”


Sources: From a report by the Gestapo in Lodz to Governor A. Greiser in Posen, July 17, 1942; taken from, Michal Unger, "The Last Ghetto: Life in the Lodz Ghetto," Yad Vashem, 1992, p. 12; Yad Vashem