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poland

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  • Jehuda Lejb Lubinski (Lolek Lubinski)

    Article

    Young people's diaries bear witness to some of the most heartbreaking experiences of the Holocaust. Learn about the diary and experiences of Lolek Lubinski

    Jehuda Lejb Lubinski (Lolek Lubinski)
  • Moses Beckelman

    Article

    Moses Beckelman was an American social worker who joined the JDC in 1939. Learn more about his efforts to help refugees fleeing Nazism during the war.

    Moses Beckelman
  • Joachim von Ribbentrop

    Article

    The charges against German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, negotiator of the German-Soviet Pact, during the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.

    Joachim von Ribbentrop
  • Baldur von Schirach

    Article

    Brief overview of the charges against Baldur von Schirach, Hitler Youth leader and Nazi leader in Vienna, during the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.

    Baldur von Schirach
  • Arthur Seyss-Inquart

    Article

    Brief overview of the charges against Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Reich Commissioner for the occupied Netherlands, during the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.

    Arthur Seyss-Inquart
  • A group of children assembled for deportation to Chelmno

    Photo

    A group of children assembled for deportation to Chelmno. During the roundup known as the "Gehsperre" Aktion, the elderly, infirm, and children were rounded up for deportation. Lodz, Poland, September 5-12, 1942.

    A group of children assembled for deportation to Chelmno
  • Execution of Polish prisoners of war

    Photo

    Execution of Polish prisoners of war near Ciepielow in September 1939. Some of the 300 Polish POWs who were executed here by firing squad are visible. In the background is a Wehrmacht soldier who participated. Ciepielow, Radom, Poland, September 1939. 

    Tags: POWs
    Execution of Polish prisoners of war
  • Warsaw

    Series

    Before World War II, Warsaw was a major center of Jewish life and culture in Poland. Browse articles describing the German invasion, the Warsaw ghetto, deportations, and resistance.

  • Identification picture of a prisoner accused of homosexuality

    Photo

    Identification picture of a prisoner, accused of homosexuality, who arrived at the Auschwitz camp on May 28, 1941. Auschwitz, Poland.

    Identification picture of a prisoner accused of homosexuality
  • The Krochmalna Street Orphanage

    Photo

    Exterior view of the Jewish orphanage run by Janusz Korczak. Established in 1912, the orphanage was located at 92 Krochmalna Street in Warsaw, Poland. Photo taken circa 1935.

    The Krochmalna Street Orphanage
  • German Order Policemen publicly humiliate Jews

    Photo

    Members of the German Order Police publicly humiliate a group of Jews by forcing them to perform exercises, 1939–1940. Sosnowiec, in German-occupied Poland.

    German Order Policemen publicly humiliate Jews
  • A building burns during the suppression of the Warsaw ghetto uprising

    Photo

    A building burns during the suppression of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. The photograph was taken through the window of a building adjacent to the ghetto. Warsaw, Poland, May 1943.

    A building burns during the suppression of the Warsaw ghetto uprising
  • Hans Frank

    Article

    Brief overview of the charges against Hans Frank, Nazi governor general of occupied Poland, during the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.

    Hans Frank
  • Genocide of European Roma (Gypsies), 1939–1945

    Article

    Learn about the history of discrimination against Roma in Europe and how the Nazi regime committed genocide against European Roma during WWII.

    Genocide of European Roma (Gypsies), 1939–1945
  • Felix Horn describes postwar emigration with the Brihah movement and adjustment to life after the war

    Oral History

    Felix was born to an assimilated Jewish family in Lublin, Poland. His father was a locksmith and his mother was a singer. Following the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, Felix fled east to Rovno and then to Soviet-occupied Lvov, where he was accepted at a medical school. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Felix was taken to a labor camp. He escaped and returned to Lublin, and found that his family had been forced into the ghetto established there. After the…

    Felix Horn describes postwar emigration with the Brihah movement and adjustment to life after the war
  • Leah Hammerstein Silverstein describes starvation in the Warsaw ghetto

    Oral History

    Leah grew up in Praga, a suburb of Warsaw, Poland. She was active in the Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir Zionist youth movement. Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. Jews were forced to live in the Warsaw ghetto, which the Germans sealed off in November 1940. In the ghetto, Leah lived with a group of Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir members. In September 1941, she and other members of the youth group escaped from the ghetto to a Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir farm in Zarki, near Czestochowa, Poland. In May 1942, Leah became a courier…

    Leah Hammerstein Silverstein describes starvation in the Warsaw ghetto
  • Leah Hammerstein Silverstein describes the emotions she felt upon arrival in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem after the war

    Oral History

    Leah grew up in Praga, a suburb of Warsaw, Poland. She was active in the Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir Zionist youth movement. Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. Jews were forced to live in the Warsaw ghetto, which the Germans sealed off in November 1940. In the ghetto, Leah lived with a group of Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir members. In September 1941, she and other members of the youth group escaped from the ghetto to a Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir farm in Zarki, near Czestochowa, Poland. In May 1942, Leah became a courier…

    Leah Hammerstein Silverstein describes the emotions she felt upon arrival in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem after the war
  • International Military Tribunal: The Defendants

    Article

    Listing of the 24 leading Nazi officials indicted at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. Learn about the defendants and the charges against them.

    International Military Tribunal: The Defendants
  • Life After the Holocaust: Blanka Rothschild

    Article

    After WWII and the fall of the Nazi regime, Holocaust survivors faced the daunting task of rebuilding their lives. Listen to Blanka Rothschild's story.

    Life After the Holocaust: Blanka Rothschild
  • Holocaust Denial: Key Dates

    Article

    Browse a timeline listing some key events in the evolution of Holocaust denial and the distortion of the facts of the Holocaust.

  • Leah Hammerstein Silverstein describes the aftermath of the Holocaust and the search for survivors

    Oral History

    Leah grew up in Praga, a suburb of Warsaw, Poland. She was active in the Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir Zionist youth movement. Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. Jews were forced to live in the Warsaw ghetto, which the Germans sealed off in November 1940. In the ghetto, Leah lived with a group of Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir members. In September 1941, she and other members of the youth group escaped from the ghetto to a Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa'ir farm in Zarki, near Czestochowa, Poland. In May 1942, Leah became a courier…

    Leah Hammerstein Silverstein describes the aftermath of the Holocaust and the search for survivors
  • Walter Szczeniak

    ID Card

    Walter was the oldest of eight children born to Polish-Catholic immigrant parents in a town near Boston, Massachusetts. The family moved back to Poland when Walter was a child, and lived on a family farm near Ostroleka in northern Poland that Walter's mother had inherited. Because his father's American nickname was "Stetson," Walter was mistakenly registered as "Charles Stetson" on his American birth certificate. 1933-39: After Walter completed secondary school, his father sent him to the University of…

    Tags: Auschwitz
    Walter Szczeniak
  • Urszula Kaczmarek

    ID Card

    Urszula was one of four children born to Franciszek and Jadwiga Kaczmarek, who lived in the industrial city of Poznan in western Poland. The family lived at 11 Smolnej Street. Like their parents, the Kaczmarek children were baptized in the Roman Catholic faith. 1933-39: As one of the older children in the family, Urszula helped her mother with the housework. She was 10 years old when the Germans invaded Poland on Friday, September 1, 1939. German planes bombed Poznan that same day, and German troops…

    Urszula Kaczmarek
  • Paula Wajcman

    ID Card

    Paula was raised in a religious Jewish family in Kielce, a city in the southeast of Poland. Her family lived in a modern two-story apartment complex. Paula's father owned the only trucking company in the district. Her older brother, Herman, attended religious school, while Paula attended public kindergarten in the morning and religious school in the afternoon. 1933-39: Paula's school uniform was a navy blazer with a white blouse and pleated skirt. At age 9, she did the "Krakowiak" dance at school. Boys…

    Paula Wajcman
  • Pinchas Gerszonowicz

    ID Card

    Pinchas was born into a large family living in the town of Miechow in south central Poland. His father was a machinist and locksmith. Pinchas spent long days studying, either learning Hebrew in the Jewish school or taking general subjects at the public school. He belonged to the Zionist youth organization, Ha Shomer ha-Tsa'ir, and played left wing for a Jewish soccer team. 1933-39: At 13 Pinchas finished school and started work as an apprentice machinist and blacksmith in a building contractor's shop.…

    Tags: Auschwitz
    Pinchas Gerszonowicz
  • Wilek Loew

    ID Card

    Wilek was the son of Jewish parents living in Lvov, a large city in southeastern Poland. His family owned and operated a honeywine winery. Although they lived amongst Poles and Ukrainians, Wilek's family spoke Hebrew, German and Polish at home and were among Lvov's Jewish intelligentsia. When Wilek was 4, his father died of a heart attack. 1933-39: Jews were often discriminated against in Poland. They found it hard to gain access to schools and jobs. In 1939 Wilek managed to pass the entrance exam and…

    Tags: Lvov Auschwitz
    Wilek Loew
  • Irena Elzbieta Wos

    ID Card

    Irena was the second of four children born to religious Roman Catholic parents in Poland's capital of Warsaw. Irena's father owned a successful textile business. When Irena was 10, her family moved to a comfortable apartment near the Royal Castle and the Vistula River. In 1930 Irena entered a private grade school. 1933-39: At 14 Irena began secondary school. She was a good student and wanted to be a doctor. On September 1, 1939, the day she was supposed to begin the new school year, the Germans attacked…

    Irena Elzbieta Wos
  • Miriam Lewent describes conditions in Siberia

    Oral History

    Miriam and her family fled their home when the Germans invaded Poland in 1939. They were interned by Soviet forces and deported to Siberia. Near the city of Tomsk, Miriam cut trees to earn food rations. When the Soviet Union went to war with Germany in June 1941, the Soviets released Miriam and her family. They sold their Red Cross rations for train fare and intended to return to Poland, but most of the family settled in Kazakhstan during the rest of the war. There, her father taught Hebrew to Jewish…

    Miriam Lewent describes conditions in Siberia
  • Thomas Buergenthal describes the difficulties involved in postwar migrations

    Oral History

    Thomas's family moved to Zilina in 1938. As the Slovak Hlinka Guard increased its harassment of Jews, the family decided to leave. Thomas and his family ultimately entered Poland, but the German invasion in September 1939 prevented them from leaving for Great Britain. The family ended up in Kielce, where a ghetto was established in April 1941. When the Kielce ghetto was liquidated in August 1942, Thomas and his family avoided the deportations to Treblinka that occurred in the same month. They were sent…

    Thomas Buergenthal describes the difficulties involved in postwar migrations
  • Sally Pitluk describes forced labor in Budy

    Oral History

    Sally Pitluk was born to Jewish parents in Płońsk, Poland in 1922. A few days after the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Płońsk was occupied. Sally and her family lived in a ghetto from 1940-1942. In October of 1942, Sally was transported to Auschwitz, where she was tattooed and moved into the subcamp Budy for forced labor. She stayed in the Auschwitz camp complex until the beginning of 1945 when she and other prisoners were death marched to several different camps. She was liberated in 1945 and…

    Sally Pitluk describes forced labor in Budy
  • SS and the Holocaust

    Article

    Learn more about the SS and the organization’s involvement in perpetrating the Holocaust.

    SS and the Holocaust
  • The Bielski Partisans

    Article

    Under the protection of the Bielski partisan group, founded by brothers Tuvia, Asael, and Zus, over 1,200 Jews survived after fleeing into forests in western Belarus.

    Tags: resistance
    The Bielski Partisans
  • Children during the Holocaust

    Article

    Children were especially vulnerable to Nazi persecution. Learn more about the fates of Jewish and non-Jewish children.

    Children during the Holocaust
  • Women during the Holocaust

    Article

    Under the Nazis, Jewish and other “non-Aryan” women were often subjected to brutal persecution. Learn more about the plight of women during the Holocaust.

    Women during the Holocaust
  • Polish Jews in Lithuania: Escape to Japan

    Article

    After 1940, Polish refugees were pressured to leave Lithuania. Learn more about the diplomats that assisted them and their journey to Japan.

    Polish Jews in Lithuania: Escape to Japan
  • German Jews during the Holocaust

    Article

    By September 1939, over half of German Jews had emigrated. WWII would accelerate the persecution, deportation, and later, mass murder, of the remainder of Germany's Jews.

    German Jews during the Holocaust
  • Sachsenhausen

    Article

    In July 1936, the SS opened the Sachsenhausen concentration camp as the principal concentration camp for the Berlin area.

    Sachsenhausen
  • World War II in Europe

    Article

    World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945, when the Allies defeated the Axis powers. Learn about key invasions and events during WWII, also known as the Second World War.

    Tags: World War II
    World War II in Europe
  • Collections Highlight: Selma Schwarzwald and her Bear, "Refugee"

    Article

    While living under an assumed identity after escaping from the Lvov ghetto, Selma Schwarzwald received a toy bear that she kept with her for many years. Read about Refugee the bear.

    Collections Highlight: Selma Schwarzwald and her Bear, "Refugee"
  • The Holocaust

    Animated Map

    View an animated map showing key events of the Holocaust, the persecution and murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazi regime and its allies and collaborators.

    The Holocaust
  • Jewish Badge: During the Nazi Era

    Article

    Nazi officials implemented the Jewish badge as a key element in their plan to persecute and eventually destroy the Jewish population of Europe. Learn more

    Jewish Badge: During the Nazi Era
  • Axis Powers and the Holocaust

    Article

    Each of Germany’s six European Axis allies participated in the “Final Solution” by murdering Jews or by transferring them to German custody. Learn more.

    Axis Powers and the Holocaust
  • Treaty of Versailles

    Article

    Learn about the provisions and impact of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, including the "War Guilt Clause" which held Germany responsible for starting World War I.

    Tags: World War I
    Treaty of Versailles
  • Wolf Wajsbrot

    ID Card

    When Wolf was a young boy, his family moved to France to escape Poland's economic instability and growing antisemitism. Soon after they settled in Paris, his father found work in construction, and Wolf started elementary school. 1933-39: Paris was home to Wolf, but he loved to listen to his parents reminisce about autumns in Krasnik and journeys to Lublin. Hitler invaded Poland in 1939. The Wajsbrots learned of the death camps and mass deportations of Jews. Wolf's parents no longer spoke of the past. Wolf…

    Wolf Wajsbrot
  • Leah Kohl Rapaport

    ID Card

    Leah and her four brothers were raised in a religious Jewish family in the city of Lvov. After obtaining her high school diploma, Leah attended university for one year. In 1931 she married Joseph Rapaport, and the couple settled in Warsaw. 1933-39: The Rapaports lived in the suburbs, and Joseph worked as a banker. Their daughter Zofia was born in May 1933. Each year at the Jewish holiday of Passover, they returned to Lvov to visit Leah's parents. Two days after Joseph was mobilized for military duty in…

    Tags: Lvov hiding
    Leah Kohl Rapaport
  • Alice Krakauerova Seelenfriedova

    ID Card

    Alice was the third of six children born to Jewish parents in the small Moravian town of Hodonin, where her father ran a dry goods and clothing store. The family spoke both Czech and German at home, and Alice attended a German-language secondary school. After graduating, she married her teenage sweetheart, Otto Seelenfried, who was a chemical engineer. 1933-39: Alice and Otto moved to the town of Jihlava. In 1934 Otto died from a ruptured appendix, and Alice returned to live with her parents in Hodonin.…

    Alice Krakauerova Seelenfriedova
  • 2004 portrait of Blanka Rothschild

    Photo

    Blanka was an only child in a close-knit family in Lodz, Poland. Her father died in 1937. After the German invasion of Poland, Blanka and her mother remained in Lodz with Blanka's grandmother, who was unable to travel. Along with other relatives, they were forced into the Lodz ghetto in 1940.  She and her mother were deported to the Ravensbrueck camp in Germany in 1944. From Ravensbrueck, Blanka and her mother were sent to a subcamp of Sachsenhausen. Blanka was forced to work in an airplane factory…

    2004 portrait of Blanka Rothschild
  • Blanka Rothschild in 2004

    Photo

    Photograph of Blanka Rothschild taken in 2004. Blanka was an only child in a close-knit family in Lodz, Poland. Her father died in 1937. After the German invasion of Poland, Blanka and her mother remained in Lodz with Blanka's grandmother, who was unable to travel. Along with other relatives, they were forced into the Lodz ghetto in 1940.  She and her mother were deported to the Ravensbrueck camp in Germany in 1944. From Ravensbrueck, Blanka and her mother were sent to a subcamp of Sachsenhausen. Blanka…

    Blanka Rothschild in 2004
  • Chaim Kozienicki

    Article

    Children's diaries bear witness to some of the most heartbreaking experiences of the Holocaust. Learn about the diary and experiences of Chaim Kozienicki.

    Chaim Kozienicki
  • Sara Rachela Plagier

    Article

    Children's diaries bear witness to some of the most heartbreaking events of the Holocaust. Learn about the diary and experiences of Sara Rachela Plagier.

    Sara Rachela Plagier

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