Łódź Ghetto, 1940-1949 | Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust

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Collection Overview

Title: Łódź Ghetto, 1940-1949

Predominant Dates:1940 - 1944

ID: RG-11/RG-11

Primary Creator: Tomaszewski, Jerzy

Other Creators: Garfunkel, Arthur, Gertler, Dawid

Extent: 0.0

Arrangement:

The arrangement scheme for the record group was imposed during processing in the absence of an original order. Materials are arranged by subject/creator, then by identifier, as assigned by the processor.

Record group is comprised of six collections: 1. Ed Victor papers; 2. Collection on the German occupation of Poland; 3. Łódź Ghetto photographs and artifacts; 4. Dawid Gertler papers; 5. Arthur Garfunkel collection of photographs; 6. Jerzy Tomaszewski collection of photographs.

Subjects: Accusation and suspicion of collaboration in the Holocaust, Activities of Jewish Councils (Judenraete) Poland, 1939 -- 1945, Arthur Garfunkel, photographs of the Lodz ghetto, Bathhouse, Lodz ghetto, Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Judenrat in the Lodz ghetto, Chairmen of Jewish Councils (Judenraete) in German-occupied and controlled territories, Chronicles of the ghetto life, Chronology of the Lodz Ghetto, Collaboration between the members of Jewish councils and German administration, Collaboration in ghettos, correspondence to and from ghettos, day-to-day life in ghettos, day-to-day life in the Lodz Ghetto, Departments of Jewish Councils (Judenraete) in German-occupied and controlled territories, Deportations from Lodz ghetto, Entertainment, Lodz ghetto, Exemptions from deportations, Forced labor in ghettos, German-Nazi crimes in the Lodz ghetto, Gertler, Dawid, Hans Biebow, Nazi-German administrator in Lodz ghetto, Inequality in the ghettos, Inquiries about relatives and friend sent to the Judenrat of Lodz ghetto, Jerzy Tomaszewski, photographs of the Lodz Ghetto, Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz Ghetto, Jewish courts of honor--Munich (Germany), Jewish Order Police in ghettos, Jewish Order Service, policemen, Judenrat, Jewish council in ghettos, Kaliski, Romek, Member of the Jewish order police in Lodz ghetto, Lodz (Poland), Lodz (Poland: Ghetto), Lodz, Litzmannstadt (Poland), Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944, Lodz ghetto, pharmacy labels, Lodz ghetto administration, Paper money and coins, Lodz ghetto, Phenomenology of Chaim Rumkowski, Photographs, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944, Photographs and artifacts, Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944), Poland (1939 --1945), Ration tickets Lodz Ghetto, Sonderabteilung (Special Department), Lodz ghetto, Szpera or Allgemeine Gehsperre, a ban on leaving houses and appartments, Lodz ghetto, September 1942, The Holocaust in Poland, Trial of Jewish collaborators from the Lodz Ghetto, postwar

Forms of Material: Zonabend Archive of the Lodz Ghetto

Languages: Polish, German, Yiddish, English

Abstract

The documents reflect multifaceted history of Lodz ghetto from inside and outside perspective. The corpus of documents comprise narrative and photographs

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The record group is comprised of the wartime documents of the Jewish ghetto administration, photographs depicting life in the Łódź Ghetto, and the postwar research and investigation undertaken by the Jewish organizations in Poland and Germany. It also features materials on Mordecai Ḥayim Rumkowski, the Chairman of the Łódź Ghetto Judenrat, and activities of the Judenrat in general. Also within this record group is the Jerzy Tomaszewski collection of photographs, which includes authentic photographs and some wartime and postwar reprints. This collection sheds new light on the lesser-known side of ghetto life, notably Jewish council meetings, entertainment events, and public speaking. Complementing the Jerzy Tomaszewski collection of photographs is the Arthur Garfunkel collection of photographs, which includes photographs, copies of orders and ordinances issued by the German and Jewish ghetto administrations. The postwar collection of David Gertler papers has been added to this record group for cross-referential purposes.

Materials within this record group include photographs, correspondence, notes of litigations, and postwar research publications. Materials are digitized.

Collection Historical Note

The history of Łódź Ghetto exemplifies the implementation of the "final solution to the Jewish question," particularly in terms of Nazi planning, modifications, ongoing exterminations, the role of the local commanders, and the role of the decisions take in Berlin. Łódź Ghetto also represents the other side of the Nazi-orchestrated Final Solution, notably the role, place, and activity of the Jewish ghetto administration, or the Judenrat. In Łódź, the history of Judenrat is symbolized by the highly controversial but charismatic figure of Łódź Ghetto Chairman, Mordecai Ḥayim Rumkowski. The role and actions of the Jewish police in the ghetto , as well as the Jewish education institutions that functioned there, are histories in their own right.

Łódź was one of the few working ghettos and the functioning educational institutions induced hope, despite of the continuous deportation. No other ghettos in Poland, perhaps, except Łódź and Warsaw, saw the extreme polarization of the Jewish population--from hunger-stricken paupers to the almighty Jewish executives spending leisure time at restaurants and the cabaret. In Łódź, like in Warsaw, the relations between German and Jewish administrations played a crucial role that directly influenced the fates of thousands of ordinary ghetto inhabitants. Not surprisingly, the question of Jewish-German collaboration on the part of the Judenrat had been raised and investigated by the Legal Department of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. Zone of Occupation in Germany after the war.

Biographical Note

Professor of the University of Warsaw, authored a number of monographs and collective works on the Jewish-Polish history

Subject/Index Terms

Accusation and suspicion of collaboration in the Holocaust
Activities of Jewish Councils (Judenraete) Poland, 1939 -- 1945
Arthur Garfunkel, photographs of the Lodz ghetto
Bathhouse, Lodz ghetto
Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Judenrat in the Lodz ghetto
Chairmen of Jewish Councils (Judenraete) in German-occupied and controlled territories
Chronicles of the ghetto life
Chronology of the Lodz Ghetto
Collaboration between the members of Jewish councils and German administration
Collaboration in ghettos
correspondence to and from ghettos
day-to-day life in ghettos
day-to-day life in the Lodz Ghetto
Departments of Jewish Councils (Judenraete) in German-occupied and controlled territories
Deportations from Lodz ghetto
Entertainment, Lodz ghetto
Exemptions from deportations
Forced labor in ghettos
German-Nazi crimes in the Lodz ghetto
Gertler, Dawid
Hans Biebow, Nazi-German administrator in Lodz ghetto
Inequality in the ghettos
Inquiries about relatives and friend sent to the Judenrat of Lodz ghetto
Jerzy Tomaszewski, photographs of the Lodz Ghetto
Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz Ghetto
Jewish courts of honor--Munich (Germany)
Jewish Order Police in ghettos
Jewish Order Service, policemen
Judenrat, Jewish council in ghettos
Kaliski, Romek, Member of the Jewish order police in Lodz ghetto
Lodz (Poland)
Lodz (Poland: Ghetto)
Lodz, Litzmannstadt (Poland)
Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944
Lodz ghetto, pharmacy labels
Lodz ghetto administration
Paper money and coins, Lodz ghetto
Phenomenology of Chaim Rumkowski
Photographs, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944
Photographs and artifacts, Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)
Poland (1939 --1945)
Ration tickets Lodz Ghetto
Sonderabteilung (Special Department), Lodz ghetto
Szpera or Allgemeine Gehsperre, a ban on leaving houses and appartments, Lodz ghetto, September 1942
The Holocaust in Poland
Trial of Jewish collaborators from the Lodz Ghetto, postwar

Administrative Information

Repository: Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust

Access Restrictions: No restrictions

Use Restrictions:

Copyrighted materials, credits to and references to the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust are required

Digital copies might be available upon request

Preferred Citation: RG-11, <span id="curobjectname">Łódź Ghetto, 1940-1949</span>. Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust Archive.

Processing Information: Materials are primarily described using the local descriptive standards of the LA Museum of the Holocaust.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Sub-Collection:

[Sub-Collection 1: RG-11.01, Ed Victor Papers, correspondence to and from Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944],
[Sub-Collection 2: RG-11.02, Documents about German occupation of Poland, the ghetto of Lodz, 1940 -- 1944],
[Sub-Collection 3: RG-11.03, Lodz Ghetto, Photographs and artifacts, 1940 -- 1944],
[Sub-Collection 4: RG-11.04, Dawid Gertler Papers, 1945 -- 1948],
[Sub-Collection 5: RG-11.05, Lodz Ghetto, Arthur Garfunkel Collection of photographs, 1941-1944, 1941 -- 1944],
[Sub-Collection 6: RG-11.06, Jerzy Tomaszewski Collection of Photographs, 1940 -- 1944],
[All]

Sub-Collection 3: RG-11.03, Lodz Ghetto, Photographs and artifacts, 1940 -- 1944

This collection contains photographs and artifacts about life in the Lodz ghetto

Subject/Index Terms:: Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Photographs and artifacts, Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 1: RG-11.03.01, Hans Biebow in the Lodz ghetto, photograph, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph depicting Hans Biebow, German administrator of the Lodz ghetto talking to a group of Jewish women

Subject/Index Terms:: Photographs and artifacts, Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944); Photographs, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Hans Biebow, Nazi-German administrator in Lodz ghetto; Lodz ghetto; day-to-day life in ghettos; Jewish yellow stars of David, Jewish badges and patches

Creators:: A German photographer (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 2: RG-11.03.02, Lodz Ghetto paper money, 15 May 1940

The currency used in the Lodz ghetto, paper money and coins

Subject/Index Terms:: Photographs and artifacts, Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944); Paper money and coins, Lodz ghetto; Lodz ghetto; Judenraete (Jewish councils); Judenrat (Jewish council), Lodz ghetto

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 3: RG-11.03.03, Chaim Rumkowski speaks at the Judenrat meeting, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph depicting Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Lodz ghetto Judenraet, speaking during a meeting

Subject/Index Terms:: Judenraete (Jewish councils); Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Judenrat in the Lodz ghetto; Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Photographs, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 4: RG-11.03.04, Lodz ghetto, women in a sewing workshop, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph depicting women in a sewing workshop at Lodz ghetto

Subject/Index Terms:: Photographs, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Sewing workshop, Lodz ghetto; day-to-day life in ghettos

Creators:: A German photographer (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 5: RG-11.03.05 Mordechaj Chaim Rumkowski speaking in a Jewish Council meeting, Tomaszewski Archive, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph depicting Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Judenraet in the Lodz ghetto, speaking in a meeting

Subject/Index Terms:: Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Judenrat in the Lodz ghetto; Judenraete (Jewish councils); Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Photographs, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 6: RG-11.03.06, Old and sick Jews from Lodz ghetto being shipped to Chelmno death camp, September 1942

A photograph depicting old and sick Jews being shipped to Chelmno death camp

Subject/Index Terms:: Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Photographs, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Chelmno Death Camp; Photographs; Deportation scenes; Deportations from Lodz ghetto

Creators:: A German photographer (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 7: RG-11.03.07, Plan ghetta Lodzziego, The street map of the Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944

The documents are a street map and a census of the Lodz ghetto. It has both German and Polish writing

Subject/Index Terms:: Lodz ghetto; Map, Lodz ghetto; Forced labor; Forced labor in ghettos

Creators:: Polish postwar authorities (ca 1946)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 8: RG-11.03.08, Chaim Rumkowski and Hans Biebow, chief of Nazi administration in Lodz Ghetto, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph decpicting Chaim Rumkowski and Hans Biebow, Nazi-German administrator in the Lodz ghetto

Subject/Index Terms:: Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Judenrat in the Lodz ghetto; Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Photographs, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Hans Biebow, Nazi-German administrator in Lodz ghetto; Judenrat, Jewish council in ghettos

Creators:: A German photographer (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 9: RG-11.03.09, Chaim Rumkowski speaks at a public event, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph depicting Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Judenraet in Lodz ghetto, speaking at a public event

Subject/Index Terms:: Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Judenrat in the Lodz ghetto; Judenrat, Jewish council in ghettos; Photographs, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 10: RG-11.03.10, Szlama Rochwerger identification, 1940 -- 1944

The Lodz ghetto identification card of Szlama Rochwerger with a stamp of deportation

Subject/Index Terms:: Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Lodz ghetto, identification card; Identification documents; Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Judenrat in the Lodz ghetto; Confiscation of personal belongings and property; German military and civil administration; Gestapo (Nazi German Secret political police); Judenraete (Jewish councils)

Creators:: German authorities of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 11: RG-11.03.11- Chaim Rumkowski in Lodz Ghetto theater with Judenrat officials, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph of Chaim Rumkowski with Judenraet officials in Lodz ghetto theater

Subject/Index Terms:: Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Judenrat in the Lodz ghetto; Judenrat, Jewish council in ghettos; Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 12: RG-11.03.12, Chaim Rumkowski with his fellow Judenrat employees, 1942 -- 1943

A photograph of Chaim Rumkowski with the Judenraet employees in the Lodz ghetto

Subject/Index Terms:: Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Judenrat in the Lodz ghetto; Judenrat, Jewish council in ghettos; Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 13: RG-11.03.13, Chaim Rumkowski speaks to a Jewish gathering in the Lodz Ghetto, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph depicting Chaim Rumkowski speaking to a group of Jews gathered in the Lodz ghetto

Subject/Index Terms:: Judenrat, Jewish council in ghettos; Chaim Rumkowski, chairman of the Judenrat in the Lodz ghetto; Lodz ghetto

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 14: RG-11.03.14, Jewish children in Jewish ghetto militia uniforms, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph of Jewish children in the Lodz ghetto militia uniforms

Subject/Index Terms:: Judenrat, Jewish council in ghettos; Jewish militia, Lodz ghetto; Photographs; Photographs, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 15: RG-11.03.15, A Judenraet member, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph of a Judenraet member in the Lodz ghetto

Subject/Index Terms:: Judenrat, Jewish council in ghettos; Judenraete (Jewish councils); Judenrat (Jewish council), Lodz ghetto; Lodz ghetto

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 16: RG-11.03.16, Lodz ghetto, a boy feeds a small girl, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph of a boy feeding a small girl in the Lodz ghetto

Subject/Index Terms:: Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Photographs, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; day-to-day life in ghettos

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 17: RG-11.03.17,Lodz Ghetto, theatrical performance, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph depicting the theatrical entertainment found in Lodz ghetto

Subject/Index Terms:: Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Photographs, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Entertainment, Lodz ghetto

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 18: RG-11.03.18, Lodz ghetto, three women at work, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph depicting three women while working in the Lodz ghetto

Subject/Index Terms:: Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; day-to-day life in ghettos

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 19: RG-11.03.19, Lodz ghetto, allegedly a deportation scene, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph depicting a deportation scene in Lodz ghetto

Subject/Index Terms:: Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Lodz ghetto, deportations; Deportation scenes; Deportations from Lodz ghetto

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 20: RG-11.03.20, Lodz Ghetto, Young Jewish man who was not once resettled, arrives to the ghetto in Lodz, 1940 -- 1944

A photograph depicting the arrival of a young jewish man to Lodz ghetto

Subject/Index Terms:: Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Photographs, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944; Jewish yellow stars of David, Jewish badges and patches

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Lodz ghetto (1940 -- 1944)