Overcrowding In Ghettos

Overcrowding was common, one apartment might have several families living in it. The conditions in the apartment were very poor, plumbing broke down sometimes, contagious diseases spread rapidly in such cramped housing. During the long winters, heating fuel was scarce, and many people had thin and light clothing. People weakened by hunger and exposure to the cold became easy victims of disease; tens of thousands died in the ghettos from illness, starvation, or cold. Some individuals killed themselves to escape their hopeless lives. In order to survive, children had to be resourceful and make themselves useful. Small children sometimes helped smuggle food to their families and friends by crawling through narrow openings in the ghetto wall.