HOLOCAUST IN URBAN SPACE: STAGES OF «FINAL SOLUTION TO THE JEWISH QUESTION» ON THE EXAMPLE OF LVIV GHETTO

Abstract

This article analyzes stages of «final solution to the Jewish question» in urban space of Eastern Galicia on the example of Lviv ghetto. The author focuses on the fact that Lviv ghetto, its functioning, everyday life and closure require a detailed study of the way how genocide was introduced in the conditions of urban multinational space. It was the sign of difference from other similar ghettos on the territory of the General Government. To understand these local events, there is a need to clearly reflect the overall process that led to the Holocaust. For this purpose it is important to trace the main historiographical approaches in the second half of the twentieth century. The combination of these elements allowed depicting a comprehensive picture of the functioning of Lviv ghetto in the conditions of European Jewsplanned holocaust by the Nazis. Particular emphasis is placed on the fact that from the first days of the German – Soviet war, the Jewish community of Lviv suffered brutality and violence, which grew with the advance of German troops eastward and reached its peak during autumn 1941. At this time, Eastern Galicia was included in the General Government territories, and its Jewish population shared the fate of the Polish Jews. The Nazi leadership had undergone a long evolution of views, which ultimately led to the emergence of ‘final resolution’ concept. Actions against Jews in the occupied territories of the USSR became the model that the Nazis modified and used to kill European Jews. Events in Lviv became a reflection of the local embodiment of the massacre project. The deportations to Belzhets gas chambers, Yanivskyi concentration camp of death, systematic ‘actions’ and shootings became the things that during the years 1942–1943 led to the extermination of Lviv Jews and those people who, due to different circumstances, were put in local ghetto.