Ghettostadt: Łódź and the Making of a Nazi City

An excellent history of the Lodz ghetto, with details about the city of Lodz/Litzmannstadt was well. Accounts of Litzmannstadt flourishing and getting bigger and better and more beautiful every day are in stark contrast to the blighted, dying ghetto. The author's portrait of Rumkowski, the ghetto's controversial leader, is balanced but sympathetic.

As the title suggests, Ghettostadt covers both the Lodz ghetto and the city itself, renamed Litzmannstadt under Nazi rule. And while Horowitz does go into detail to explain the terrible living conditions and daily struggles of life in the ghetto, he definitely fell short in detailing the non-ghetto aspect. It was mostly only used to show a contrast to how well-off the Germans of Litsmannstadt were. Considering the sub-title of the book implies there would be more detail on this aspect, it is a little disappointing he didn't further explore life in Litzmannstadt.