Historically, ghettos were areas designated to separate Jews from the general population. The first one was established in Venice, Italy, in 1516. Nazis created ghettos to concentrate and control Jews. 

Ghettos under the Nazis were enclosed, dehumanizing districts with Nazi-mandated institutions. Nazis controlled food, medicine, information, and gatherings. To resist, Jews created self-help organizations and clandestinely continued Jewish cultural and religious life, forming underground groups like the Oneg Shabbat Warsaw ghetto archive. In some ghettos, Jews rose in armed resistance as a last stand. Most ghetto residents died from starvation or disease, were deported and gassed at death camps, or were shot in nearby forests.