Gorlice Ghetto

[1] In Gorlice, the German occupation of September 7, 1939 marked the beginnings of establishing a ghetto in the city, as the Wehrmacht began taking Jews from their homes, robbing them of their possessions, and forcing them into labor-intensive work.

Though some owners were granted access to keep their businesses running, many women ended up taking over the establishments, as the Jewish men went into hiding, attempting to escape from a life of forced labor by the Reich.

Smuggling food became a necessary part of survival for many Jews occupying Gorlice, many obtaining sustenance from the neighboring country of Slovakia, nearly nineteen miles away from the location of the ghetto.

The ghetto itself was guarded by Ukrainian police officials and, though they were firm in serving the local Gestapo, some officers aided the Jews inside by helping them to smuggling food supplies like coffee, tea, and cocoa into Gorlice.

[1] This kind of desperation was indicative of the overarching Nazi motive behind ghettoization of so many parts of Europe, that being to drain all physical elements of worth from the Jewish people in hopes to drive them out of what was to become a greater German population.

The hard conditions and starvation within the occupied areas was meant to force the Jews to sell all their possessions in order to afford food and drink to survive.