Home > Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity > Ghetto

In the second half of the twentieth century the word ghetto in American culture was used to describe overpopulation and poverty in urban settings. Sections of cities, usually housing recent immigrants of African American or Latino origin, came to be referred to by this term. It communicated a kind of substandard living that could usually be ascribed to persistent discrimination against such communities, but also toward immigrants in general. In some instances, a sense of belonging and self-identification emerged from these negative connotations.

A sense of belonging evolved from the racial homogeneity and experience of shared persecution within the confines of the ghetto. African American or Latino ghettos do not always contain dilapidated buildings or deteriorating housing projects, but may signify home, places with an authentic racial identity or "soul" that yields a desire and yearning for life and the overpowering drive to rise above the immediate physical surroundings. This powerful image has been aptly captured in popular culture, especially literature. In the early twentieth century there were descriptions of a "negro ghetto" in Langston Hughes' plays and in his poem "The Heart of Harlem" (1945). In the latter Hughes captures the essence of this term:

The buildings in Harlem are brick and stone

And the streets are long and wide

But Harlem's much more than these alone

Harlem is what's inside.

This theme was echoed in the later work of other African American authors such as Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Ralph Ellison, and Lorraine Hansberry. What links these writers is their reference to the mean streets of the ghetto, where life was hard but, despite poverty, crime, and rampant drug activity, dreams could be born that would transport people to a better way of life.

The derivation of the word ghetto is important. The Oxford English Dictionary, in seeking to trace its etymology, admits to a lack of clarity. There is tacit acceptance among scholars, however, that the word derives from the Italian verb gettare (to pour or to cast), a reference to the foundry existing in the city-state of Venice in the early 1500s. Nearly a hundred years later in Thomas Coryat's Coryat's Crudities (1611), the word first appeared in written form in the English language: "a place where the whole fraternity of the Jews dwelleth together, which is called the Ghetto."

From this passage it can be extrapolated that the early history of the word refers to a distinct section of a city, usually separated from the rest of the city by walls or gates. The people who lived within that walled section of the city were Jews. The connotation of negativity and discrimination followed the word from that point onward.

Origin of the Concept

The Jews who lived in Venice were mostly traders and moneylenders by profession. The presence of Jewish moneylenders played an important role in overcoming the religious prohibition, among both Christians and Jews, on collecting interest for loans made to members of one's own faith. As pointed out by Benjamin Ravid in 1992,

The Jewish moneylenders not only helped to solve the socioeconomic problems of an increasingly urbanized society, but also made it less necessary for Christians to violate church law by lending money at interest to fellow Christians. Consequently the Venetian government periodically renewed charters allowing Jews to engage in money lending down to the end of the Republic in 1797.

The beliefs of the Jewish minorities in Venice across Italy and throughout Europe stood in stark opposition to the growing Christian Renaissance of the time. As a result, the incumbent powers in Venice and the city's population targeted the Jewish community. Laws were passed, notably Calimani 1, that required Jews to be grouped together to prevent free movement, especially at night. Another regulation, Calimani 2, required the Jewish population to wear a star-shaped yellow badge and yellow beret to differentiate them from the Christian majority. This public identification not only enabled the authorities to easily identify Jews, but it also attracted taunts and social cruelties. This discrimination was compounded by strict migration laws that prevented the Jewish population from growing through immigration.

The combination of social factors at play during that historical period and the creation of specific laws aimed at the Jewish community introduced the word ghetto into the lexicon. Discriminated against in mainstream society, Jewish traders and moneylenders were forced to remain together. The strict regulations requiring them to live in a specific area of the city implied that they had to live within a section that could be easily monitored. The area near the foundry in Venice was ideal for such purposes. Persistent discrimination coupled with the passage of further laws identified this group to the authorities and the rest of the city's residents, making them subject to abuse. This provided additional motivation for Jews to live inside their own territory, where they were less likely to be subjected to derision.

Accounts of the time suggest that the ghetto itself did not necessarily signify a deterioration in living standards and status. Rather, for many Jews it represented the middle ground between unconditional acceptance and complete expulsion and exclusion. Residing within the ghetto allowed them to pursue their way of life and trade without interference. The ghetto appears to have been a place where Jewish culture and identify thrived.

Shades of Meaning

The word ghetto encompasses several strands of meaning that need to be identified and differentiated. At least three different connotations exist: (1) voluntary Jewish quarters; (2) quarters assigned to the Jews, either for their convenience or protection, or as an inducement for them to settle in a particular area; and (3) an area that was compulsorily Jewish and where no Christians were allowed to live.

These distinctions largely resulted from clerical pressures, social circumstances, and especially the edicts of the Nazi regime. Also important to understanding the meaning of the term is an examination of the environs in which the ghetto typically existed and the reaction of Jews when confronted with compulsory or optional living quarters.

There is little doubt that in the late medieval period many Jews, like modern immigrant groups of the twenty-first century, chose freely to live in close proximity to each other. This desire was often driven by the very practical needs of living a shared religious and social life that was significantly different from that of the rest of the population. This tendency was apparently reinforced in the eleventh and twelfth centuries when secular authorities in Germanic lands as well as reconquista Spain offered their Jewish populations specific quarters. It is important to note that the Jewish quarters at this stage were not compulsory nor were they used as a means of segregation. Rather, they were provided as an incentive for Jewish traders to conduct their trades within cities.

During this era there was regular contact between Jews and their Christian neighbors, despite the occasional recalcitrance of the Catholic Church, which frowned on such relations. This was captured in the stipulation adopted by the Third Lateran Council in 1179 discouraging Catholics from living among Jews. It was primarily this decree that led many European cities, including Venice, to pass legislation segregating Jews. As a result, Jewish quarters commonly were populated exclusively by Jews, with non-Jews, mainly Catholics, often prevented by law and emerging custom from living in these areas.

Developments in Venice

In Venice itself, Jews were allowed to settle anywhere within the city, with no concerted group settlement except for a brief period between 1382 and 1397. It was also common for Jews to settle on the mainland across the lagoon from Venice in Padua and Mestre, with the city of Venice allowing them to seek refuge there in the event of war. Within this context Jews fled to Venice from neighboring regions during the War of the League of Cambrai in 1509. When Venice successfully defended itself, acquiring the surrounding mainland territories, the refugees were ordered to return home. However, exceptions were made for Jews when city authorities realized the benefits of permitting this population to remain in Venice.

The principal reason for this decision was the potential revenue that might be collected from wealthy Jewish traders in a time of state penury caused by the expense of the recent war. The Jewish community's continued presence in the city would also assure the close proximity of moneylenders for the poor, whose numbers had risen sharply after the war. It was these circumstances that are reflected in the city charter of 1513, allowing Jews to live in the city and guaranteeing their freedom to continue moneylending activities there.

Role of the Church

The enlightened attitude of the Venetian government stood in sharp contrast to the views of civil society and the Church. The clergy regularly preached and incited hatred against the Jews, notably at Easter time when there were often calls for their expulsion from the city. The delicate balance between polity and the Church was overcome by a move on the part of the Venetian government in 1516 that sought to placate such sentiments and can be directly attributed to the growing use of the term ghetto. In a document passed by the Venetian Senate on March 29, the city government agreed to the Jews' continued presence in the city as money-lenders, but indicated that they could not dwell anywhere in the city and have freedom of movement day and night. Instead, the legislation stipulated that all Jews would be required to live on an island referred to as ghetto nuovo (the new ghetto). To guarantee that Jews lived within this area and remained confined within it at night, gates were erected at two locations. These gates were to be locked at sunset and only reopened the next morning at sunrise. Jews caught outside the gates during the hours between sunset and sunrise could be fined prohibitive amounts.

For the legislation to take effect, the Christians who lived within the area designated as the ghetto nuovo were required to vacate their homes. Landlords of properties within the newly formed ghetto were also allowed to charge their new Jewish tenants rents that were one-third higher than those paid by their former Christian tenants, with the increments exempt from any form of taxation.

Evolution of the Venetian Ghetto

The concept of ghetto that is understood in the contemporary world, although it reflects many aspects of current reality, may be traced back to the actions of the Venetian Senate in 1516. Many Jews initially resisted the stipulation that required them to leave their abodes and move to the newly gated area. In addition, while many of the Jews lived in close proximity to each other, they strongly objected to the idea of being segregated in the manner proposed by the Senate. However, because the Venetian government was adamant about its policy but did make some concessions in terms of the area's administration, the community gradually accepted the stricture. It was clearly preferable to being cast out of the city altogether and forced to trade from the mainland.

Records also reveal 1541 to be a significant date in distinguishing the Venetian ghetto from the radical concept of ghetto that the Nazis advanced nearly four hundred years later. That year a group of Levantine Jewish merchants visited the city and then approached the authorities, complaining that the existing ghetto was not large enough for them to both reside in and use for the storage of their merchandise. The Venetian government investigated the complaint and found it to be valid. Recognizing the value of the Jewish community in attracting trade to the city, it ordered that the ghetto be extended by appropriating a neighboring area that contained twenty dwellings. This amalgamation was accomplished by building a wall and a footbridge between the ghetto vecchio (old ghetto) and the ghetto nuovo. Thus unlike the Nazis, Venetian authorities did engage in a dialogue with the Jewish community and instigated measures to increase their comfort.

The Concept Spreads

The ghetto and the phenomenon of segregating Jewish populations were not confined to Venice alone. With the driving force being the pressure exerted by the Church on the regulation of the Jewish community and its interactions with Christians, the practice of restricting Jews to specific areas within cities became widespread. This trend was consolidated by the papal bull that Pope Paul IV issued shortly after his selection as pontiff in 1555. Cum Nimis Absurdum required all Jews, in papal states, to live on a single street and, if necessary, adjacent streets, with the area clearly separated from the living space of Christians and with a single entrance and exit. Thus, Jews in Rome were required to move into a designated quarter as a result of this edict, and subsequent reference to the area as a ghetto is contained in Pope Pius IV's papal bull of 1562, entitled Dudum a Felicis.

This trend was repeated across Italy, with similar activities reported in Tuscany and Florence (1571) and Sienna (1572). In each case the area that the Jews were required to live in was referred to as a ghetto. The word also entered the lexicon of the Jewish community; it appears in Hebrew documents of the Jews of Padua. From 1582 onward this community engaged in similar discussions with the authorities, which resulted in the creation of a ghetto there in 1601 after Padua had gained its independence from Venice.

In Venice the use of the term rose steadily after the extension of the Jewish quarter in 1541. A second negotiation for additional space occurred in 1633 and it resulted in the designation of a third ghetto area called ghetto nuovissimo, also physically linked to the two earlier ghettos. However, this third ghetto area was not located on the site of the previous foundry. Thus, while the former two ghettos owed their names to the existence of foundries on the land prior to their redesignation as segregated places for Jews, the new ghetto had never been a foundry. It was simply referred to as a "ghetto" since it was the newest enclosed quarter for Jews. Thus, as pointed out by Ravid in 1992, "the term ghetto had come full circle in its city of origin: from an original specific usage as a foundry in Venice, to a generic usage in other cities designating a compulsory segregated, walled-in Jewish quarter with no relation to a foundry, and then to that generic usage also in Venice."

Although the first official ghetto evolved in Venice and can be directly linked to the Senate ruling of 1516, it would be incorrect to suggest that it represented the first segregation of Jews. Prior to that date, there had been quarters in cities that were populated primarily by Jews. An example is the Jewish quarter in Frankfurt established in 1462, predating the Venetian ghetto by more than fifty years. Thus, although the first ghetto was established in Venice in 1516, it was such only in a purely technical, linguistic sense. In a wider context, one that recognizes what a ghetto signifies, the concept of a compulsory, exclusive, enclosed Jewish quarter is arguably older than 1516 and may be traced to the Church's Third Lateran Council.

References in Literature

In terms of English literature, although William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1596) specifically refers to a Jewish moneylender who almost certainly would have lived in the ghetto, no mention is made of the word. The play does, however, portray the prejudice that existed toward Jews in the sentiments expressed against Shylock, the moneylender, but it is inaccurate in that no reference is made to the fact that Jews were required at that time to wear yellow stars and berets.

The first reference in the English language to ghetto, as mentioned earlier, appeared in the travelogue written by Thomas Coryat in 1611, Coryat's Crudities. The book details the author's travels, including a visit to Venice, and the word ghetto is used to describe the dwelling place for the "whole fraternity of the Jews."

While ghettos persisted for the next two centuries, the phenomenon was only sporadically represented in popular culture and writing. In 1870 some scholarship suggested that Western Europe's last ghetto, in Rome, had been abolished. Despite such a claim, it is clear that the practice remained widespread, in Russia and elsewhere around the world. The term ghetto also began to appear with greater frequency in the literature. It appeared in the work of literary critic Edward Dowden in his analysis of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poetry in the late nineteenth century. In two biographical studies of the same period, Children of the Ghetto and Dreamers of the Ghetto (1898), Israel Zangwill explores the idea of life in the ghetto.

With the steady rise in discrimination against Jews all over Europe as well as in the Ottoman Empire during the nineteenth century, it became common for many cities to designate Jewish quarters that were often referred to as ghettos. The word came to refer to any area that was densely populated with Jews, even when those places had no strictures that barred Jews from living in the rest of the city among the rest of the population. Eventually, the word lost its Jewish emphasis and simply referred to any densely populated area where a minority group lived. Most often, as in modern-day usage of the word, the rationale for the homogeneity was socioeconomic and cultural rather than legal, thus marking a significant departure from the term's original use in Venice when the law required that Jews be segregated into a ghetto.

The development of the word has resulted in a number of related phrases such as "out of the ghetto" and "ghetto mentality." These suggest that the ghetto is a place from which emancipation is necessary. Although it could be argued that the Jews confined to ghettos sought emancipation of this kind, the factors from which individuals living in modern-day ghettos seek a release are primarily socioeconomic rather than legal. Thus, getting out of the ghetto is a reference to acquiring enough wealth and influence not to have to live within its crowded confines. Similarly, ghetto mentality refers to the feeling of being under pressure or in a state of siege and reacting in a manner that is not otherwise considered rational.

Nonetheless, in the literature and other contexts the word ghetto has been mostly used in its classical Counter-Reformation sense, to refer to compulsory segregation in urban settings.

World War II

The crucial step in the evolution of the concept of ghetto to its modern-day meaning occurred during World War II, when the Nazis forced Jews into overcrowded and squalid quarters. Unlike earlier ghettos, Jews were simply grouped together in one specific place as a temporary haven on the planned road to total annihilation. With Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s, the idea of the ghetto reignited with a fury, exhibiting the worst manifestations of forcing a population to live within strict confines. The substandard living conditions introduced in the Nazi ghettos established and reinforced the concept of an archetypical ghetto as a place of severe hardship and misery. Nazi ideology with its theory of a superior Aryan race placed the minority Jewish population under direct threat, and ghettos became the means by which this population was segregated and then targeted for the fullest expression of Nazi aggression. German expansion eastward reestablished ghettos all over Europe. It is estimated that the Third Reich's conquests resulted in the creation of over three hundred ghettos in Poland, the Soviet Union, the Baltic States, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Hungary.

The ghettos of World War II were extremely different from those of the Renaissance period. Although motivated by the same idea of segregation, the Nazi ghettos had a much more sinister purpose: the containment of a population that was soon to be exterminated. Nazi ghettos were demarcated from the rest of the urban landscape by the use of crude wooden fences, high brick walls, and, often, barbed wire.

Life in the Ghetto

Life inside the ghetto has varied tremendously at different points in history and in reaction to the pressures exerted on the community within its confines. In early Venetian times and in the aftermath of the papal bulls, ghettos became a place where Jews could maintain their own affairs and escape the discrimination they suffered in mainstream society. It was also a place where Jewish sociocultural and religious activity thrived, and a feeling of relative security might be experienced. In this era the ghetto had not yet become synonymous with overcrowding and dense overpopulation. As discussed above, when space was at a premium in the Venetian ghetto, Jewish leaders simply renegotiated with the Senate and secured additional areas to enlarge the original ghetto. There are also several accounts by authors and artists of the time, notably Leon Modena, Simone Luzzatto, and Sara Copia Sullam, that depict a society rich in culture and art within the Venetian ghetto.

What is clear is that life inside the ghetto in Venice was in sharp contrast to life in the Nazi ghettos throughout Europe, where existence was directly influenced by outside pressures. A significant factor in the level of Jewish self-expression and creativity during this period was not so much the circumstance that required Jews to live in the ghetto, but rather, "the nature of the outside environment and whether it offered an attractive supplement to traditional Jewish genres of intellectual activity" (Ravid, 1992). Thus, the conditions the Nazi regime imposed on Jews were reflected in the immense overcrowding and suffering of a people forced to live within the confines of a ghetto. In these circumstances daily life was extremely hard, often resulting in despair, as it was compounded by the knowledge that the ghetto was merely an interim stop on the road to annihilation by a regime that was intent on eradicating Jewish identity.

Thus, the meaning of the term ghetto has changed considerably over time. Although its connotations have always been negative, because of the underlying rationale of segregation, these were not necessarily present to the same degree when the word was first coined in Venice of the sixteenth century. The most negative connotation of the word clearly derives from the actions of the Nazis during World War II.

The Ghetto Uprising in Warsaw

Another aspect of the use of the word ghetto can be attributed to a specific incident that occurred during World War II, the ghetto uprising in Warsaw. It captured the public imagination worldwide as a struggle against immense odds. At the outbreak of World War II there were three million Jews in Poland, with as many as four hundred thousand living in Warsaw. The Nazis invaded Poland in September 1939, and by November of the following year they had established the Warsaw ghetto. It was surrounded by an eleven-mile wall, roughly ten to twenty feet high, topped with broken glass and barbed wire. With its original residents displaced elsewhere, some 140,000 Polish Jews were forced into this concentrated area. German soldiers were posted at the ghetto's exits; only those Jews working in war-related industries were allowed to leave and return. Jews from other parts of Poland were gradually moved in, and some estimate that at one time there were as many as half a million people living in the Warsaw ghetto. Nearly 63,000 Jews are estimated to have died from starvation, the cold, and disease during the life of this ghetto.

Conditions within the ghetto regularly resulted in death, and this, coupled with the news in July 1942 that a death camp existed in Treblinka some forty miles away, fueled actions of resistance. By early 1943 the residents of the ghetto began to fight back against their captors. Using a handful of pistols, grenades, and captured weapons, the fighters took on the might of their tormentors, perhaps strengthened by the fatalistic attitude that death in combat was preferable to their meek acceptance of the fate that awaited them at Treblinka and other concentration camps. Drawing the Nazis into a guerilla-style battle, the Jewish fighters achieved some success in skirmishes that mostly took place in narrow alleys and dark apartment passages. The period of resistance lasted a total of eighty-seven days.

The fighting reached a climax on April 19 when columns of approaching German troops, with tanks and armored vehicles, met with fierce resistance. They lost two hundred soldiers—either killed or wounded—and were forced to retreat. By April 23 the fighters issued a public appeal:

Poles, citizens, soldiers of freedom. . . we the slaves of the ghetto convey our heartfelt greetings to you. Every doorstep in the ghetto has become a stronghold and shall remain a fortress until the end. It is our fight for freedom, as well as yours; for our human dignity and national honor as well as yours. . . .

However, the resistance began to crumble as food and ammunition ran out. The Nazis squeezed the ghetto, setting fire to buildings and reducing most of it to rubble as they sought out every last perpetrator of resistance against their occupying forces. By May the Nazis has regained complete control of the ghetto. Nevertheless, the fierce struggle against impossible odds inspired many other struggles, and in a sense, the feeling of shared fraternity that accompanies the use of the word ghetto in modern parlance may be attributed, in part, to it.

SEE ALSO Catholic Church; Germany; Holocaust; Inquisition; Resistance

Joshua Castellino