This book focuses on Jewish life before Jews lost their autonomy and fell totally under Nazi power. With contributions from survivors of the ghettos throughout Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary and from prominent scholars, this book covers Jewish daily life and governance-the Judenrat, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, smuggling, housing, death, and religious life-and comprises historical and cultural essays. The selection of work combines a range, scope, and narrative rarely available in one volume. Ghettos varied depending on the time, circumstance, and place in which they were created. A combination of scholarly assessment and eyewitness accounts, this book clearly elucidates these differences: some ghettos were ad hoc arrangements intended only as way stations while others were final destinations.