In the first two years, it absorbed almost 20,000 Jews from liquidated ghettos in nearby Polish towns and villages,[2] as well as 20,000 more from the rest of German-occupied Europe.[3] After the wave of deportations to Chełmno death camp beginning in early 1942,[6] and in spite of a stark reversal of fortune, the Germans persisted in eradicating the ghetto: they transported the remaining population to Auschwitz and Chełmno extermination camps, where most were murdered upon arrival. It was the last ghetto in occupied Poland to be liquidated.[7] A total of 210,000 Jews passed through it;[4] but only 877 remained hidden when the Soviets arrived.