During the Holocaust, historians estimate that the Nazis and their collaborators established roughly 1,000 to 1,150 Jewish ghettos across German‑occupied Europe, with a commonly cited minimum of “over 1,000” ghettos.

Quick Scoop

  • The phrase “how many ghettos were established” usually refers to the ghettos created by Nazi Germany for Jews during the Holocaust (1933–1945).
  • Research by institutions such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum notes at least about 1,000–1,100 ghettos in occupied and annexed territories, mainly in Poland and the Soviet Union, with additional ghettos elsewhere in Europe.
  • The exact number is difficult to pin down because:
    • Some ghettos were very small, short‑lived, or poorly documented.
* Definitions differ (for example, whether to count temporary “destruction ghettos” in Hungary or small transit ghettos separately).

Key historical context

  • The first World War II Jewish ghetto is generally identified as Piotrków Trybunalski in occupied Poland, established in October 1939.
  • The Warsaw Ghetto became the largest, imprisoning over 400,000 Jews in a very small area, while the Łódź Ghetto was the second largest.

In short: when people ask “how many ghettos were established” in the Holocaust, the historically supported answer is that more than a thousand were created, with estimates centering around 1,100.

Note: This answer focuses on Nazi‑era Jewish ghettos; earlier early‑modern Jewish ghettos (e.g., Venice, Rome, Prague) and later uses of the word “ghetto” for modern urban neighborhoods are different historical phenomena.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.