Beginning with the
invasion of Poland during
World War II, the regime of
Nazi Germany set up
ghettos across
occupied Europe in order to segregate and confine
Jews, and sometimes
Gypsies, into small sections of towns and cities furthering their exploitation. In German documents, and
signage at ghetto entrances, the Nazis usually referred to them as
Jüdischer Wohnbezirk or
Wohngebiet der Juden, both of which translate as the
Jewish Quarter. There were several distinct types including
open ghettos,
closed ghettos,
work,
transit, and
destruction ghettos, as defined by
the Holocaust historians. In a number of cases, they were the place of Jewish underground resistance against the German occupation, known collectively as the
ghetto uprisings.