Work/Labor

The system of forced labor was developed on an unprecedented scale in the Łódź Ghetto. Factories and workshops were located within its boundaries. The profits that Germans took from production based on slave labor were high, and as a result they decided not to liquidate the ghetto in Łódź until August 1944. This ghetto was practically a labor camp. Until the end of 1940, 30 establishments (called “resorts”) were created, and their number reached 55 in 1941. Approximately 30 per cent of adults confined in the ghetto worked there. By 1942, work in the “resorts” became the condition of survival, as those who didn’t work, were the first to be deported. This situation induced creating further work places – in 1942 there were 90 factories and workshops, that employed 80 per cent of the residents of the ghetto, including children and youth. In the years 1943-1944 the number of “resorts” reached 100, and the level of employment – 95 per cent. People worked in appalling conditions. The Third Reich earned millions.