Lodz Area Research Group Home Page

Introduction

Memorial to the destroyed Jewish communities of Lodz and its region

Welcome to the Lodz Area Research Group (LARG) home page. The Lodz Area Research Group, founded by Shirley Rotbein Flaum and Roni Seibel Liebowitz, aims to provide researchers with a forum, clearinghouse and resource for the collection and dissemination of genealogical and historical information relating to the Jewish communities of Lodz, Poland, and the surrounding area. This research group is dedicated to the rescue and preservation of materials relating to the Jewish communities of the Lodz area and as a living memorial to our ancestors' impact on, and contribution to Poland's second largest city.

Click here for updated LARG Towns spreadsheet.

A Rage to Live

Lodz KehilaLinks readers are very familiar with the poignant writings of Lodz Ghetto survivor, Victor Breitburg. He was one of the “The Boys” liberated from Theresienstadt, whom Sir Martin Gilbert wrote about in The Boys: Triumph Over Adversity.

Now he tells it all in this important book written with Joseph G. Krygier. For more information click here.

Scope

The towns included in LARG are located roughly within a radius of 35 to 40 miles, or 55 to 65 kilometers, of the city of Lodz. There are over 80 towns in LARG. The list of towns includes latitude and longitude coordinates, links to information and fellow researchers familiar with researching each town.

Towns in LARG are located in the area once known as the Kingdom of Poland, also known as Congress Poland or Russian Poland, occupied by the Russian Empire from 1815 until 1918. The 10 gubernias (provinces) of the Russian Empire in the Kingdom of Poland (1867-1917) were: Suwalki, Lomza, Plock, Warszawa, Siedlce, Lublin, Radom, Kielce, Piotrków and Kalisz. Each gubernia was divided into several uyezds (districts).

Towns in LARG were located in one of these four gubernias:

Piotrków Gubernia of Russian Poland, 1867-1917. Today, central Poland, including the city of Lodz.
Plock (Plotsk) Gubernia of Russian Poland, 1844-1917. Today, north-central Poland, north of Lodz.
Warszawa (Warsaw) Gubernia of Russian Poland, 1844-1917. Today, central Poland, northeast of Lodz.
Kalisz (Kalish) Gubernia of Russian Poland, 1867-1917. Today, west-central Poland, west of Lodz.*

The above information was obtained from JewishGen's Research in Eastern Europe FAQ, by Warren Blatt

Maps

Click here for a larger view of the Lodz region

The Kingdom of Poland before W.W.I, with post W.W.II borders
The Polish Provinces of the Russian Empire, 1902
New Provinces of Poland as of 1 January 1999
Interactive City Plan of Lodz (in Polish), including Aleksandrow Lodzki, Konstantynow Lodzki, Pabianice and Zgierz (former Lodz ghetto, synagogues and cemeteries located in Quadrants No. 21 & No. 22)

Objectives

Facilitating access to records.
Creating databases various sources.
Furthering communication among all those interested in the Jewish communities of Lodz and the surrounding area.

Submission of Materials

We would be happy to receive relevant material you may be willing to submit. These materials include, but are not limited to, photographs, translations from written material, directories and firsthand anecdotes of Jewish life in and around Lodz.

For questions concerning material contributions, contact the Coordinator of the Lodz Area Research Group, Roni Seibel Liebowitz.

Gallery of Towns in the Lodz Region

Click on an image for a larger view. Use your browser's back button to return to this page.

*Postcards donated by George Fogelson from a collection of postcards his grandfather obtained while a soldier during World War I.

**Postcards donated by Daniel Wagner.

The Inowlodz synagogue (non-existent).	Market Square in Wielun, ca. 1918.
Market square in Skierniewice, ca. 1919.	Market square in Skierniewice, ca. 1921.
Railroad Station in Skierniewice.	Market Square in Skierniewice.
Street near the park in Skierniewice.	Streetcar from Lodz to Pabianice, ca. 1918.
View of Pabianice, a manufacturing center near Lodz.	Police station in Pabianice, ca. 1916.
Ulica Zamkowa in Pabianice, ca. 1915.	Marketplace in Sieradz.
Market Square in Tomaszow Mazowiecki.	Dr. Rode's Palace in Tomaszow Mazowiecki.
Views of Tomaszow Mazowiecki.	Market square in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, ca. 1915
View of Zgierz.	The Customs Office in Aleksandrow Lodzki.
The Buffet Hall of the Railway station in Aleksandrow Lodzki, pre-WWI.	Former Piarist Church in Lowicz.
Market square in Brzeziny.	Evangelical church in Ozorkow.
City park in Rawa Mazowiecka.	Market square in Nowo Radomsk.
Ulica Dluga in Aleksandrow Lodzki, ca. 1918.*	Ulica Dluga in Aleksandrow Lodzki, ca. 1918.*
Drawing of synagogue in Zdunska Wola.**	Market square in Zdunska Wola in 1908.**