By staff
Title: Warsaw Ghetto and Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 1939-1978
Predominant Dates:1940-1944
ID: RG-25/RG-25
Primary Creator: Czerniaków, Adam (1880-1942)
Other Creators: Wójcik, Władysław
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, then by identifier, as assigned by the processor.
Record group is comprised of seven collections and three items, the collections of which are: 1. Collection of Warsaw ghetto street scene photographs; 2. Collection on Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; 3. Collection of exhibit-building photographs; 4. Collection of Warsaw ghetto documents issued by the German authorities and Jewish ghetto administration; 5. Władysław Wójcik collection; 6.Collection of photographs on forced stripping in the Warsaw ghetto; 7. Collection on Adam Czerniakow.
Subjects: Adam Czerniakow, Chairman of the Jewish Council of Warsaw, 1939-1942, Aftermath of Warsaw ghetto uprising, Black Market in the Warsaw Ghetto, 1940 --1943, Books in the Warsaw ghetto, 1940 --1943, Business in the Warsaw ghetto, Children in the Warsaw Ghetto, Collaboration between the members of Jewish councils and German administration, Collaboration in ghettos, collaboration in the Holocaust, Collaboration in the Warsaw Ghetto, 1940 --1943, Commemoration of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Connections between the Jewish Combat Organization and Polish Governmetn in Exile, 1942 -- 1945, Correspondence between Wladyslaw Wojcik and Jewish Organizations in the United States and Israel, Corruption in the Warsaw ghetto, 1939 -- 1943, day-to-day life in the Warsaw ghetto, Demolition of the Warsaw Ghetto, May 1943, Deportation from Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka death camp, July 1942, Deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto, 1942 -- 1943, Destruction of the Warsaw ghetto, post-uprising, Diary of Adam Czerniakow, the chairman of the Jewish Council of Warsaw, Education in the Warsaw ghetto, Emanuel Ringelblum, Emanuel Ringelblum Archive, Warsaw Ghetto, Entertainment in the Warsaw ghetto, Female nudity, Warsaw Ghetto, Final Aktion (action) in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 16 May 1943, Food distribution in the Warsaw ghetto, 1940 --1943, Food rations in the Warsaw Ghetto, German military operation against Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, German rules and orders regarding the Warsaw Ghetto, Hunger in the Warsaw Ghetto, intellectual life in the Warsaw ghetto, 1940 --1943, Jewish Combat Organization (Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa), Jewish Combat Organziation (ZOB), members, Jewish Order Police in the Warsaw ghetto, 1940 --1943, Jewish prisoners of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 1943, Jurgen (Juergen) Stroop, General of Combat SS and Police, Jurgen (Juergen) Stroop, report of the last day of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 16 May 1943, Life conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto, Liquidation of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, May 1943, means of survival in the Warsaw ghetto, 1940 --1943, Medical care in Warsaw Ghetto, Mordechaj Anielewicz, commander of the Jewish Combat Organization and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Orders issued by the German administration during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 1943, Pedestrian bridges in the Warsaw ghetto, Poland (1939--1945), Polish Home Army (Armija Krajowa), Poverty and Desperation in the Warsaw ghetto, Relations between Jewish and Polish Resistance in Warsaw, 1939 -- 1945, Sarenka Rachel Zylberberg, organizer of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Selection for resettlement (deportation) from Warsaw ghetto, Smuggling in the Warsaw Ghetto, 1940 --1943, The Holocaust in Poland, The last day of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 16 May 1943, The role of the Warsaw sewers in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Warsaw (Poland), Warsaw (Poland: ghetto), Warsaw ghetto, post-uprising and liquidation, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, combat tactics, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, defense bunkers, Zydowski Zwiazek Wojskowy (Jewish Military Union), Warsaw
Forms of Material: Molotov Cocktails, a liquid explosive used by the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
This record group is comprised of photographs, narratives, postwar correspondence, officially-issued documentation, and links to U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum documentaries. Represented in the photographs are street scenes, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, forced stripping and life in the Warsaw Ghetto, while other materials contain documents issued by German authorities and the Jewish ghetto administration. A significant collection includes documents from Władysław Wójcik, a Polish construction technician, who, while working on the site of the former Warsaw ghetto in 1950, discovered the second part of the Ringelblum Archive. The Władysław Wójcik collection contains postwar correspondence between Mr. Wójcik and various Jewish organizations, including the Israeli Consulate General, Yad Vashem, and the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, as well as medical doctors whose care he sought out.
The linked documentaries, within this record group, are streamed from the Film and Video Archive of the USHMM. These documentaries are Destruction of Warsaw, Poland; Claude Lanzmann Shoah Collection, Interview with Jan Karski; and Propaganda filming of the Warsaw Ghetto: prison; street; corpses; burial.
This record group contain both original materials, as well as secondary documents and photographs. The materials in this record group have been partially digitized.
The Warsaw Ghetto was established on October 16, 1940 in the Jewish section of Warsaw. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began on April 19, 1943, when the Nazis decided to liquidate the ghetto and send its remaining inhabitants to Treblinka, an extermination camp. The uprising lasted until May 16, 1943.The collection of photographs depicting a forced stripping of a Jewish young woman in front of German soldiers consists of original photographs.
The collection of photo documents depicting ghetto life are largely secondary photographs. The same is true about the photo documents comprising the collection devoted to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.RG-25.01- Warsaw Ghetto Street Scenes Photo-Collection
This collection of four photographs is of the Warsaw Ghetto from 1943.
RG-25.01.01.01- The first photograph depicts a Jewish man in the front, two Jewish females in the back, and another Jewish man passing by on the street. There is a clock in the background with a hanging sign, “Zegarmistrz.”
RG-25.01.01.02- The second photograph depicts the backs of a group of males and females marching and carrying shovels. There is a man in the back holding arms. There is also a film negative of this photograph included in the envelope the photographs are in.
RG-25.01.01.03- The third photograph is of a street scene with a tall building in the background.
RG-25.01.01.04- Photograph of a Warsaw Ghetto street scene, two men walking past each other
RG-25.01.02- Warsaw Ghetto, Police Mistreating Old Man
Caption attached- “A Hitlerite policeman/schupe/ mistreats an old Jew. Photo found on a Hitlerite officer killed in battle.” Caption also in Polish.
RG-25.01.03- Warsaw Ghetto, Invaders and a group of Jewish Men
Caption attached- “By persecuting the Jews the invader tried to trample down their human dignity and thus kill their spirit of resistance. Photo taken from the Ghetto Underground Archives.” Caption also in Polish.
RG-25.01.04- Warsaw Ghetto in Flames, the last Jewish prisoners are led to execution
Dated- 1943-
This photograph shows the Warsaw Ghetto in flames as the last Jewish prisoners are led to execution.
RG-25.01.05- Warsaw Ghetto, 1941, photocopies
Photocopies of photographs of the Warsaw Ghetto in 1941. The first is a scene of men working and using wheelbarrows. The second is of men walking toward a car. The third is of a man standing near a pile of rectangular objects.
RG-25.01.06- Soldiers walking in the streets of the Warsaw Ghetto in May 1943
Dated- May 1943
A photograph of the Warsaw Ghetto in flames in May 1943, two copies.
RG-25.01.07- Warsaw Ghetto, Wagon of dead bodies
RG-25.01.08- Warsaw Ghetto, A man on the street
RG-25.01.09- Warsaw ghetto, a doctor visiting a dwelling at 33 Nalewki Street, 1941
RG-25.01.10- Warsaw Ghetto Jewish police, May, 1941
RG-25.02- Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Photographs
Dated- April-May 1943
RG-25.02.01- Two male resistance fighters during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
RG-25.02.02- Blazing houses during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
RG-25.02.03- Fighter climbing out of a cellar with hands in the air after capture by the Nazis.
RG-25.02.04- Women prisoners lined up awaiting their fate.
RG-25.02.05- Mordechai Anielewicz, original Passport Photograph
This photograph was donated by Mrs. Nutkievitz, who was in Sweden and exchanged photos with a friend, who gave her this original passport photograph of Mordechai Anielewicz. Anielewicz was a strong leader and one of the initiators of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; he had been appointed commander of the ZOB, a Jewish fighting organization, in November of 1942. He was killed in the bunker on May 8, 1943.
RG-25.02.06- Warsaw Ghetto Burning, 3 copies
Dated- April-May 1943
Three copies of the same photograph, a photograph of the Warsaw Ghetto in flames in the background of a skyline.
RG-25.02.07- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, two female members of Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB) before the execution, Courtesy- YIVO Institute for Jewish research
RG-25.02.08- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Jews in front of the German soldiers, Alex Schwartzkopf Collection
RG-25.02.09- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, a street in the ghetto after the Uprising
RG-25.02.10- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, a column of Jewish captives is being led in the aftermath of the Uprising, courtesy of Wide World Photo
RG-25.02.11- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, in the aftermath, Alex Schwartzkopf Collection
RG-25.02.12- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, ruins of the ghetto, Alex Schwartzkopf Collection
RG-25.02.13- Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, in the aftermath
RG-25.02.14- New York Times, Warsaw Ghetto article
Secret Polish Radio asks Aid, Cut off
RG-25.02.15- Heavily armed German troops clear Muranowski Square of Jewish Resistance Fighters, April, 1943
RG-25.02.16- The Monument of Ghetto Heroes
A small relief of one side of the Monument of Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw dedicated to the Ghetto Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto. The box contains a booklet in English explaining the monument.
RG-25.03- Exhibit-Building, Secondary Photographs
RG-25.03.01- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto wall
RG-25.03.02- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto, Hungry and Exhausted Kids in the yard
RG-25.03.03- Color slide, Warsaw Ghetto, Jewish Policeman regulates traffic
RG-25.03.04- Slide, Warsaw Ghetto, Books are being sold and exchange on the street
RG-25.03.05- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto, A man on the street
RG-25.03.06- Photograph, Warsaw, First Days of the German occupation
RG-25.03.07- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto, a view of the ghetto wall
RG-25.03.08- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto, Jews climbing over the ghetto wall
RG-25.03.09- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto, at the cemetery
RG-25.03.10- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto, a Jewish Boy, 1943, Yad Vashem Archives
RG-25.03.11- Photograph, Warsaw, Jews are not allowed into the park
RG-25.03.12- Photograph, Warsaw, a ghetto check-point
RG-25.03.13- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto, a ghetto entrance
RG-25.03.14- Photograph, Warsaw ghetto, medical examining in the ghetto
RG-25.03.15- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto, prayer in the ghetto
RG-25.03.16- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto, Jewish kids in the classroom
RG-25.03.17- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto, A beggar on the street
RG-25.03.18- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto, unidentified location, perhaps a transfer
RG-25.03.19- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto, inside a ghetto dwelling
RG-25.03.20- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto, street sale
RG-25.03.21- Photograph, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
RG-25.03.22- Slide, Warsaw ghetto, pedestrian bridge
RG-25.03.23- Slide, Warsaw ghetto, transporting cargo
RG-25.03.24- Photo-copy, Warsaw ghetto, a food ration card
RG-25.03.25- Photograph, Warsaw ghetto, street entertainer Rubinstein on the street
RG-25.03.26- Photograph, Warsaw, a Jewish fur shop, preparing for the German requisitions
RG-25.03.27- Photograph, Warsaw ghetto, dragging the dead
RG-25.04- Warsaw Ghetto Documents issued by the German Authorities and Jewish Ghetto Administration
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RG- 25.04.01- Warsaw Ghetto, Notice, copy
Dated- 10 November 1941
Issued by- Dr. Fischer, Gouverneur
“Notice- Death penalty for leaving the Jewish residential district…the General Governor decreed that in the future, when a Jew of the residential district leaves on un authorized leave, there will be a death penalty. The same penalty applies to those who take in Jews either knowingly or helping by using all kinds of vehicles. The trial is carried out by the Special Court of Warsaw. I would like to see the entire population of the Warsaw District comply to this new statutory because only a more rigorous approach is unrelenting.” The language is in German.
RG- 25.04.02- Warsaw Ghetto, Judenrat Notice, copy
Dated- 22 July 1942
Issued by- Warsaw Ghetto Judenrat
A notice from the Warsaw Ghetto Judenrat that all Jewish people of all ages and sex living in Warsaw are relocated to the East…Person designated for resettlement may each pack a travel bag of 15 kilograms and may bring monetary valuables, jewelry, gold, etc...The transportation begins July 22, 1942 at 11am…” The language of the notice is in German and Polish.
RG- 25.04.03- Warsaw Police Bulletin
Dated- 1943
Issued by- Warsaw Police
A Warsaw Police bulletin in German and Polish.
RG- 25.04.04- Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa Notice, copy
Dated- 23 April 1943
Language- Polish
Notice to Polish citizens to fight against the German army, which as cruel invaders, invaded the homes of their mothers, wives and children. The notice calls for a fight against a common enemy, the Nazis, for freedom, human dignity, and national honor.
RG- 25.04.05- Telefax Copy
Dated- 16 May 1943
Language- German
“Sender- Police of Warsaw District
Subject- Ghetto-Grossaktion
Attention- Higher SS and Police of the East…
Krakow
The course of the Grossaktion on May 16 1943, beginning 10 A.M.-
There were 180 Jews, bandits, and people destroyed. The former Jewish residential district of Warsaw no longer exists. With the blowing up of the Warsaw Synagogue, the Grossaktion ended at 8-15 P.M.
…
The evidence is collected and the total destruction of Jews is 56 065.
Own no losses.
Final report…May 18 1943.”
RG-25.04.06- Warsaw Judenrat informs about mass deportation to Treblinka, 22 July 1942
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RG-25.05- Władysław Wójcik Collection
Provenance- Władysław Wójcik, 99-44-62 Avenue, Rego Park, New York, II374. Mr. Wójcik’s collection includes his appeals to Jewish organizations for financial assistance and their responses, letters concerning his nomination to Yad Vashem as a Righteous Gentile, a letter from the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, and a letter from a doctor stating his health. The collection also includes a passport photograph of Mr. Wójcik.
Organization- The collection of documents is a collection of letters, totaling 16 pages. The narrative is placed in a pocket folder and is bound by a paper clip.
Language- English, French, Polish
Bibliographical/Historical note- In 1950 Władysław Wójcik, a construction technician, working on the site of the Warsaw ghetto discovered the second part of the Ringelblum Archives (which contain clandestine documentation of ghetto life). The documents were hidden in two large milk canisters. Władysław Wójcik, having notified the Jewish Historical Institute, ensured security of the documents.
In time Mr. Wójcik emigrated from Poland to the US where his health gradually deteriorated. He also encountered financial hardships. Mr. Wójcik desperately sought help from various Jewish organizations, as well as from private persons. Having been recognized by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among Nations, he had been given no help from Jewish establishment in the U.S. or Israel. The correspondence proves that his appeal for assistance was not heard.
RG- 25.05.01- Certified Letter, Appeal, Władysław Wójcik
Dated- 1 September 1978
This document is an appeal from Władysław Wójcik to Jewish philanthropic organizations for financial assistance and chronicles his other failed attempts to receive financial assistance from Jewish organizations in the past. He cites his failing health, previous imprisonment by the Gestapo, and his moral assistance to Jews during the war and his role in securing the second portion of the Ringelblum Archives as his reasons for asking for financial assistance.
RG- 25.05.02- New Year’s greetings from L. Bernstein and Engineer A. Reiss from
Dated- 1 January 1964
New Year’s greetings from L. Bernstein and Engineer A. Reiss from Israel expressing blessings and gratitude. Included with the original letter was a souvenir- one small chocolate and one small book.
RG-25.05.03- Certificate from the Jewish Historical Institute, in Polish and English
Dated- 15 August 1964
Issued by- The Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw
Two certificates, one in Polish and a translation in English, from the Jewish Historical Institute certifying that Władysław Wójcik discovered the second portion of the Ringelblum Archives in two large cans while engaged in extraction work on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto on December 1, 1950. Mr. Władysław Wójcik also kept a smuggled diary in his parents’ apartment during the German occupation.
RG- 25.05.04- Recognition Diploma from Yad Vashem, copy
Dated- 1 May 1966
Issued by- Yad Vashem and the Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority
This recognition diploma attests to a meeting on 15 June 1967 when Yad Vashem and the Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority decided to pay homage to Władysław Wójcik for his part in saving Jews during the time of extermination in the face of danger with a diploma or honor, and to grant him the right to plant a tree on the Mount of Jerusalem. The diploma is in Hebrew and French.
RG-25.05.05- Letter, World Jewish Congress
Dated- 28 March 1968
Issued by- World Jewish Congress
A response from the Executive Director of the World Jewish Congress, Max Melamet, to Mr. Wójcik’s appeal for financial assistance.
RG-25.05.06- Letter, Dr. Irving Rappaport
Dated- 7 July 1978
A letter from Dr. Irving Rappaport, M.D., detailing Mr. Wójcik’s decline in health since his heart attack in 1977. Two copies of the same letter.
RG-25.05.07- Letter from Moshe Landau, President of the Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, to Władysław Wójcik
Dated- 15 August 1968
Issued by- Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, Yad Vashem
Letter from Moshe Landau, President of the Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, to Władysław Wójcik, announcing Yad Vashem’s decision in a preliminary meeting on June 15, 1965, to grant Władysław Wójcik a diploma of honor and the right to plant a tree on the Mount of Jerusalem in his name if fate brings him to Israel, on account of the valiancy and human solidarity he showed by saving Jews in the face of danger under German occupation. The letter states the conferring of the diploma and its date will be communicated later by the Consulate. The letter is in French.
RG-25.05.08- Invitation to receive a Righteous Among the Nations Award
Dated- 20 January 1969
Issued by- Consulate General of Israel Office in New York
A letter from a Consul of Israel in New York, N. Eshkol, inviting Władysław Wójcik to a ceremony at the American Israel Cultural Foundation in New York to receive his Righteous Among the Nations Award.
RG 25.05.09- Photograph of Władysław Wójcik Accepting his Righteous Among the Nations Award, photocopy
Dated 20 February 1969
A copy of a photograph showing Władysław Wójcik accepting his Righteous Among the Nations Award at The American Israel Cultural Foundation in New York. The General Consul of Israel, Mr. N. Eshkol, and Vice Consul and Władysław Wójcik are in the photograph.
RG-25.05.10- Israel’s Tribute to the Righteous, Opening Remarks
Dated- 20 February 1969
Opening remarks by the Consul General of Israel Mr. R. Amir for Władysław Wójcik’s ceremony celebrating his inclusion in the Righteous Among the Nations.
RG-25.05.11- Letter from Consul of Israel, New York
Dated- 6 March 1969
Issued by- Consulate General of Israel Office in New York
A letter from a Consul of Israel in New York, N. Eshkol, thanking Władysław Wójcik for his presence at a ceremony at the American Israel Cultural Foundation in New York to receive his Righteous Among the Nations Award.
RG- 25.05.12- Photograph of city buildings, copy
RG-25.06- Warsaw Ghetto, Forced Stripping Photographs
Organization- This collection of eight photographs is of forced stripping in the Warsaw Ghetto and is placed in protective sleeves inside a pocket folder.
Bibliographical/Historical note- The Warsaw Ghetto was established on October 16, 1940 in Warsaw, Poland, by the German occupation.
RG-25.06.01- A woman without a top, surrounded by soldiers.
RG-25.06.02- A soldier forcing a woman to strip.
RG-25.06.03- A woman on the floor, removing or putting on her socks.
RG-25.06.04- The same woman standing up in the street.
RG-25.06.05- A woman with her elbow raised and men in the background on the street.
RG-25.06.06- A soldier forcing a woman to strip in the street.
RG-25.06.07- Two soldiers forcing two women to strip.
RG-25.06.08- A woman standing in the street without a top as a soldier in the back keeps guard.
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Film and Video Archive
RG-25.07- Battle for Warsaw, English narration, USHMM
RG-25.08- Jan Karski Report, film by Claude Lanzman, USHMM
RG-25.09- Warsaw Ghetto prison, Jewish police, film, USHMM
RG-25.10- Adam Czerniakow
RG-25.10.01- Adam Czerniakow, biographical note
RG-25.10.02- The Warsaw Diary of Adam Czerniakow
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising started on April 19, 1943 when the Nazis decided to liquidate the ghetto and send its remaining inhabitants to Treblinka, an extermination camp. The uprising lasted until May 16, 1943
Wladyslaw Wójcik collection of documents contains original papers and copies from the original documents. Mr. Wójcik’s collection includes his requests addressed to a number of Jewish organizations. He was asking for financial assistance needed to subsidize his medical treatment. This Collection also includes correspondence from the Jewish organizations with rejection of the requested financial assistance. There is correspondence concerning his nomination to be considered by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Gentile. Another part of the Collection contains a letter from the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, and a letter from a doctor stating reporting on Mr. Wójcik’s health conditions.
In 1950 Władysław Wójcik, a construction technician, working on the site of the Warsaw ghetto discovered the second part of the Ringelblum Archives (which contain clandestine chronicles documenting the ghetto life). The documents were hidden in the two large milk canisters. Władysław Wójcik, having notified the Jewish Historical Institute, ensured security of the documents.
Sometime later, Mr. Wójcik emigrated from Poland to the US where his health gradually deteriorated. He also experienced financial hardships. Mr. Wójcik desperately sought help from various Jewish organizations, as well as from private persons. Having been recognized by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Gentile Among Nations, he had not been given any help from Jewish establishment in the U.S. or Israel. The correspondence proves that his requests for financial and medical help were falling on a deaf ear.Scope/Content Notes, this collection contains original documents and photographs and more in numbers, secondary documents and photographs. It shall be noted that photo documents received from Bundesarchiv have been lesser known, rarely used in publications. We have displayed them as the museum exhibits. Their digitized copies are part of the several archival collections including this one.
Three documentaries from the USHMM Film and Video Archive complement this Collection by the means of original footage and the oral history.
Adam Czerniaków, Chairman of the Warsaw Jewish Council from September 1939 to 23 July 1942, was often known for what he was not. He was not a religious Orthodox, not a Bundist (Jewish social-democrat), not an ardent Zionist. Yet he was a man with qualities: an honest, reliable, responsible, carrying, and compassionate person. Reflections on what he was not would only confirm his adequacy to the period of extreme challenges, in which he lived. He did not flee Warsaw in the wake of German occupation, like former chairman, Maurycyj Mayzel; he did not misinform the German authorities on the gruesome situation in the ghetto, like the chairman of the Łódź ghetto, Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, did. Adam Czerniaków being a captain of a sinking ship still believed in a positive outcome.
When it became obvious that the Germans commenced mass deportations from the ghetto in the end of July 1942, with expectations of compliance with deportation quotas, Adam Czerniaków committed suicide on 23 July 1942. In his final passage of his Diary on Tishe B’Av, July 23, 1942, he wrote “It is 3 o’clock. So far there are 4000 ready to go. According to orders there have to be four thousand [more] by 4 o’clock.”[1]
Czerniaków kept his diary from the beginning of the German occupation of Warsaw (October 1939) to the orders of mass deportation from the Warsaw ghetto (July 1942). The entries were concise, well to the point, but not without passion. His records comprise a truthful narrative, startling and stunning in its exactness and historicism. In the post-Holocaust world, Czerniaków’s diaries have become a credible standard allowing us to test the reliability of other relevant sources.
<br clear="all" /> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> [1] Raul Hilberg, Stanisław Staron, and Josef Kermisz, eds. The Warsaw Diary of Adam Czerniaków: Prelude to Doom (New York: Stein and Day, 1979), 23.
Adam Czerniakow, Chairman of the Jewish Council of Warsaw, 1939-1942
Aftermath of Warsaw ghetto uprising
Black Market in the Warsaw Ghetto, 1940 --1943
Books in the Warsaw ghetto, 1940 --1943
Business in the Warsaw ghetto
Children in the Warsaw Ghetto
Collaboration between the members of Jewish councils and German administration
Collaboration in ghettos
collaboration in the Holocaust
Collaboration in the Warsaw Ghetto, 1940 --1943
Commemoration of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Connections between the Jewish Combat Organization and Polish Governmetn in Exile, 1942 -- 1945
Correspondence between Wladyslaw Wojcik and Jewish Organizations in the United States and Israel
Corruption in the Warsaw ghetto, 1939 -- 1943
day-to-day life in the Warsaw ghetto
Demolition of the Warsaw Ghetto, May 1943
Deportation from Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka death camp, July 1942
Deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto, 1942 -- 1943
Destruction of the Warsaw ghetto, post-uprising
Diary of Adam Czerniakow, the chairman of the Jewish Council of Warsaw
Education in the Warsaw ghetto
Emanuel Ringelblum
Emanuel Ringelblum Archive, Warsaw Ghetto
Entertainment in the Warsaw ghetto
Female nudity, Warsaw Ghetto
Final Aktion (action) in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 16 May 1943
Food distribution in the Warsaw ghetto, 1940 --1943
Food rations in the Warsaw Ghetto
German military operation against Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
German rules and orders regarding the Warsaw Ghetto
Hunger in the Warsaw Ghetto
intellectual life in the Warsaw ghetto, 1940 --1943
Jewish Combat Organization (Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa)
Jewish Combat Organziation (ZOB), members
Jewish Order Police in the Warsaw ghetto, 1940 --1943
Jewish prisoners of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 1943
Jurgen (Juergen) Stroop, General of Combat SS and Police
Jurgen (Juergen) Stroop, report of the last day of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 16 May 1943
Life conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto
Liquidation of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, May 1943
means of survival in the Warsaw ghetto, 1940 --1943
Medical care in Warsaw Ghetto
Mordechaj Anielewicz, commander of the Jewish Combat Organization and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Orders issued by the German administration during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 1943
Pedestrian bridges in the Warsaw ghetto
Poland (1939--1945)
Polish Home Army (Armija Krajowa)
Poverty and Desperation in the Warsaw ghetto
Relations between Jewish and Polish Resistance in Warsaw, 1939 -- 1945
Sarenka Rachel Zylberberg, organizer of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Selection for resettlement (deportation) from Warsaw ghetto
Smuggling in the Warsaw Ghetto, 1940 --1943
The Holocaust in Poland
The last day of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 16 May 1943
The role of the Warsaw sewers in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw (Poland)
Warsaw (Poland: ghetto)
Warsaw ghetto, post-uprising and liquidation
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, combat tactics
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, defense bunkers
Zydowski Zwiazek Wojskowy (Jewish Military Union), Warsaw
Repository: Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust
Physical Access Note: The photographs received from the Bundesarchiv, which have been rarely used in publications, are currently displayed in the museum exhibits.
Original/Copies Note: Some of the secondary photographs have been received from the Bundesarchiv, and the documentaries are linked from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Destruction of Warsaw, Poland can be found at http://resources.ushmm.org/film/display/detail.php?file_num=0312; Claude Lanzmann Shoah Collection, Interview with Jan Karski can be found at http://resources.ushmm.org/film/display/detail.php?file_num=4739; and Propaganda filming of the Warsaw Ghetto: prison; street; corpses; burial can be found at http://resources.ushmm.org/film/display/detail.php?file_num=1646.
Preferred Citation: RG-25, Warsaw Ghetto. 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.
These resistance fighters were captured by the Germans and sent to the Majdanek concentration camp. Here is an excerpt from the recollection of Malka Zdrojewicz (Horenstein), "We went to a neutral place in the ghetto area and climed down into the underground sewers. Through them, we girls used to carry arms into the ghetto; we hid thme in our boots. During the ghetto uprising we hurled Molotov cocktails at the Germans.
After the supression of the uprising we went into hiding taking refuge in an underground shelter where a large quantity of arms was piled up. But the Germans detected us and forced us out. I happened to be there with Rachela and Bluma Wyszogrodzka (and that is how they took our picture)...
Rachela and I, together with the others, were driven to the Umschlagplatz. They later took us to Majdanek from there."
Mordechaj Anielewicz (1919 -- 8 May 1943) was one of the leaders of the Jewish Combat Organization (ZOB) from January to May 1943. He led the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising until his death on 8 May 1943 in the ZOB command bunker center.
Anielewicz was born into a poor Jewish family in the small town of Wyszkow near Warsaw. After he completed the high school studies he joined and later became a leader of the "Hashomer Hatzair," the Zionist-socialist youth movement.
In 1942, he joined the Jewish Combat Organization (ZOB). In November 1942, he was appointed as the group's chief commander. After the connections with the Polish government in exile were established, the group began receiving weapons from the Polish underground on the Aryan side of the city. On 18 January 1943, Anielewicz organized the first act of the the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising preventing the majority of a second wave of Jews from being deported to extermination centers. This initial incient of arme resistance was a prelude to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising that commenced on April 19, 1943.
It is assumed that he died on 8 May 1943 along with his girlfriend and many of his staff at the German-surrounded the ZOB Command Bunker at 18 Mila Street in Warsaw.
This Collection contains documents relted to Wladyslaw Wojcik who discovered at construction site in Warsaw, on December 1, 1950, two large canisters filled with manuscripts. These manuscripts turned to be a part of the Ringelblum Archive. The construction site was located in territory of the former Warsaw Ghetto. The found documents comprised the ghetto archive collected by Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum and his associatesThe ghetto archive attests to the day-to-day life in the Warsaw ghetto and as a whole it provides undeniable evidences of the tragic plight of the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto.
Wladyslaw Wojcik, a construction technician, notified about this finding the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. He handed over the two canisters with the documents of the ghetto chronicle to this Institute.
Wladyslaw Wojcik also passed to the Jewish Historical Institute the prewar and wartime diary narrated in Hebrew by a noted scientist Chaim Aron Kaplan. The Kaplan’s Diaries were smuggled out of ghetto with the help of his disciples, one of whom was Wladyslaw Wojcik’s cousin.
The rest of the documents of this collection deal with Wladyslaw Wojcik’s emigration to the United States. His life in the United Stated was difficult and disproved his anticipation for the recognition. He suffered from poor health, lack of financial support and the indifference on the part of various Jewish organization.
His correspondence with domestic and international Jewish organization proves that largely the Jewish community in the United States and Israel turned a deaf ear on him. and concealed withing one of the ghetto structures in February 1943.
Wladyslaw Wojcik, a construction technician, notified about this finding the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. He handed over the two canisters with the documents of the ghetto chronicle to this Institute.
Wladyslaw Wojcik also passed to the Jewish Historical Institute the prewar and wartime diary narrated in Hebrew by a noted scientist Chaim Aron Kaplan. The Kaplan’s Diaries were smuggled out of ghetto with the help of his disciples, one of whom was Wladyslaw Wojcik’s cousin.
The rest of the documents of this collection deal with Wladyslaw Wojcik’s emigration to the United States. His life in the United Stated was difficult and disproved his anticipation for the recognition. He suffered from poor health, lack of financial support and the indifference on the part of various Jewish organization.
His correspondence with domestic and international Jewish organization proves that largely the Jewish community in the United States and Israel turned a deaf ear on him.
An appeal from Wladyslaw Wojcik to the Jewish Religion and Social-Philantropies Organization/Jewish Organization for material assistance in the form of a loan or gift on humanitarian grounds. September 1978.
Wojcik discusses his heart failure and consequent disability, and his inability to pay his hospital bills on the funding provided by Social Security. He notes that some of his health problems are due to his internement, starvation and torture by the Gestapo in Warsaw, a result of his offering of assistance to Jews in Warsaw. He also discusses how he saved documents from the Warsaw ghetto. This is his second appeal to this particular organization, although he notes that he has appealed to several other Jewish organizations, but there was no response. He concludes his appeal by listing the hardships he has experienced, from the regieme under Hitler, to Stalinist influence, to health, emotional and marital problems in the United States.
