Records Relating to Lodz Ghetto | Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust

This record group contains documents and photographs reflecting mundane life in the Lodz ghetto. It also features Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, the Chairman of the ghetto Judenrat, and activities of the Judenrat in general. The photographs are part of the Jerzy Tomaszewski Collection (Jerzy Tomaszewski is a prominent Polish historian of Modern Jewish History in Poland). This collection includes authentic photographs and some wartime and postwar reprints. The Jerzy Tomaszewski Collection sheds new light on the lesser-known side of ghetto life, notably Jewish council meetings, entertainment events, and public speaking.

The Arthur Garfunkel Collection complements the collection of Jerzy Tomaszewski. It adds 11 photographs (or reprints) of Judenrat members, including Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski photographed on different occasions of his business activity. Two unidentified photographs capture a group of Jewish, and possibly Polish, police. This record group also includes a number of miscellaneous photo-reprints, including an enlarged copy of the ghetto work-card issued to Szlama Rochwerger, a house watcher in the ghetto. The card bears a stamp indicating that Szlama Rochwerger has been assigned to a transport for deportation. Copies of the orders and ordinances issued by the German and Jewish ghetto administrations are also included in this collection. The postwar collection of Dawid Gertler Papers was added to this record group for the purpose of cross-reference. There is also a collection of correspondences to and from Lodz Ghetto that is part of Ed Victor Papers (RG-72.07).