Lodz-Names
A Record of the 200,000 Inhabitants of the Lodz Ghetto
Contents
See also:
Lodz-Names:
List of the Ghetto Inhabitants, 1940-1944
Availability
-
Yad
Vashem Library, Jerusalem, Israel
- U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum (Yizkor book section), Washington, D.C., USA
- Museum of Jewish Heritage,
New York, New York, USA
- Stanford
University (Green Library), Stanford, California, USA
- University
of Notre Dame (Hesburgh Library), Notre Dame, Indiana, USA
- University
of Toronto (Robarts Library), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Bayerische
Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library), München (Munich), Germany
- Uniwersytet
Warszawski (Warsaw University), Warsaw, Poland
- Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia
Library of Congress Call No.: DS135
.P62 L6424 1994X (or DS135 .P62 L64414 1994)
The records of the Judenrat of the
Lodz ghetto are an extremely valuable database, consisting of the movements
and fate of the 200,000 inhabitants of the Lodz ghetto from February 1940
to August 1944. This five-volume work was published jointly by the Organization
of Former Residents of Lodz in Israel (OFRLI) and Yad Vashem as Lodz-Names:
List of the Ghetto Inhabitants, 1940-1944, in 1994 (other titles: Lodz
- shemot: reshimat toshvei ha-geto, 1940-1944; Shemot Lodz). It is
at once a memorial to the victims of Nazi brutality and a genealogical
treasure.
Not only was the Lodz ghetto the
longest existing ghetto in Poland, but the surviving records are the most
detailed of any Polish ghetto. The five volumes were published in the following
format: four original volumes plus the supplementary volume. There is also a
one-page addendum of additional names.
One can not overemphasize the importance
and usefulness of these records. On my first trip to Yad Vashem, I asked
about Lodz records and was directed to these volumes in the library. Within
minutes, I found the names, birth, deportation dates or death dates of
my grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, my father and his first wife.
Most importantly, there, in black and white, was the name and birth date of the
child my father lost -- information I always
thought was irretrievable.
It is worth
going into some detail about this book to demonstrate how useful it is.
The records were originally organized by ghetto address. Before the list
was published, the data was reorganized by surname and given name, in alphabetical
order. Each row consists of nine columns, with the following information:
(1) Surname, in alphabetical
order
(2) Maiden name (occasionally)
(3) Given name
(4) Sex
(5) Date of birth
(6) Occupation (usually in German,
also in Polish)
(7) Ghetto address
(8) Apartment number
(9) Notes: This section may include
previous address* or town**, date of death or deportation (and possibly the
transport number).
*Lodz street names are listed as renamed by the Germans
in 1939-1940. To find the equivalent Polish street names, see: Dobroszycki, Lucjan, ed. The Chronicle of the Lodz
Ghetto: 1941-1944. New Haven: University Press, 1984. (see Appendix,
pp. 537-539)
**Many towns were renamed by the Germans in 1939-1940.
Equivalent Polish town names may be found in Lodz
Ghetto Deportations and Statistics, Table C.
In
the ninth column, Notes, German or Polish abbreviations are used
to denote the movements or fate of the individual.
ABBREVIATIONS IN LODZ NAMES
|
German or Polish
|
English
|
ABG + date |
Change of registration to new address |
AG or A.G. + date |
Change of registration to new address, or deportation (to
Chelmno);
AG may be used as an abbreviation of either "Abgang" or "Ausgang" |
AGE |
(unknown) |
A.M. |
(unknown) |
ANG |
Change of registration to new address |
AUSG + date |
Deportation (to Chelmno) |
AUSG TR + date |
Deportation with transport number
(to Chelmno) |
DO |
Domicile |
DOM |
Domicile |
GEST |
Died |
OMYLK WPIS |
Mistaken entry |
PRZ do M + No. |
Moved to moved to app. no. in same
house |
PRZ dom + No. |
Moved to other house in same street |
S. |
See, compare |
SIEHE |
See, compare |
UBERMEL |
Relocated |
UM |
Relocated, moved |
UMG |
Relocated, moved |
WYM + date |
Change of registration to new address |
ZAM |
Registered |
ZMARL |
Died |
|
In August 1944, the Nazis dissolved
the Judenrat and the ghetto was liquidated. Thus, no entries were made
about the fate of those deported to Auschwitz in the ghetto's last days.
The absence of such information is a clue in itself, however, especially
if there is evidence the individual was still alive in 1944. The Talman
family below is such an example.
At first glance, it may be difficult
to determine who is related to whom. However, by reorganizing the data
back to its original format, by ghetto address, family units might emerge:
TALMANS LIVING AT GHETTO ADDRESS
HANSEATEN 12
TALMAN, Joel Icek [m], b. 1886, of Lowenstadt [Brzeziny]; occupation: "fuhrman"
[driver]; ghetto address was Hanseaten
12; "Gest." [died] 23 March 1943 in the ghetto.
TALMAN, Chana [nee' TOPOLOWICZ],
b. 1892, of Lowenstadt; occupation: "hausfrau" [housewife]; "ABG" [moved]
to ghetto address Hanseaten 12 on 7 April 1944 [no further information
on her fate].
TALMAN, Marjem [f], b. 1913, of Lowenstadt;
occupation: "schneider" [cutter or tailor]; "ABG" [moved] to ghetto address
Hanseaten 12 on 7 April 1944 [no further information on her fate].
TALMAN, Elka [f], b. 1926, of Lowenstadt;
occupation: "schneider" [cutter or tailor]; "ABG" [moved] to ghetto address
Hanseaten 12 on 7 April 1944 [no further information on her fate]. |
|
By further grouping all eleven individuals
with the surname TALMAN by ghetto address one may reasonably assume there
were three distinct families with this surname in the ghetto.
A copy of the ghetto list is maintained
in the office of the co-publisher of the book: Organization
of Former Residents of Lodz in Israel (OFRLI), 158 Dizengoff Street, Tel
Aviv 63461, Israel.
Lodz-Names: List of the Ghetto Inhabitants,
1940-1944 and the records of the Judenrat of the Lodz ghetto may be
available in additional libraries or in the possession of organizations
unknown at the present time.
Other Sources of Ghetto Records
Even though the records contained in Lodz-Names: List of the Ghetto Inhabitants,
1940-1944, are very extensive, they do not contain a complete list
of every Jew incarcerated in the Lodz ghetto.
The extant records of the new
cemetery, from 1892 to August 1944, are an excellent source of genealogical
information. The Lodz Chevra Kadisha continued to record burials of
those who died in the ghetto (some 43,000 to 60,000 victims), right up until
the liquidation of the ghetto in August, 1944. Most of these
victims were buried in the Pole Gettowa (or Ghetto Field) in the
cemetery. Some ghetto victims were buried in other parts of the
cemetery, or in unknown locations. Fortunately, the Chevra Kadisha records have
survived. |
The "Pole Gettowe" or Ghetto Field in the New Lodz Cemetery
|
In some instances, the cemetery
records can supplement information found in the ghetto list, Lodz-Names:
List of Ghetto Inhabitants, 1940-1944, by supplying the father's name of
those listed in the ghetto records and buried in the cemetery. Some ghetto
victims whose names are not found at all in Lodz-Names: List of Ghetto
Inhabitants, 1940-1944 are found in the cemetery records. This is evidence
that the published ghetto records are an incomplete list of all Jews
incarcerated in the ghetto. Limitations of the cemetery records are the lack
of maiden names of married women and, occasionally, missing father's names.
These valuable records are held
by two entities: the Jewish community
of Lodz and the Organization
of Former Residents of Lodz in Israel. The best way to obtain information
from these entities is an on-site visit, either by yourself or your
representative. Be prepared to offer a donation along with your request. For
more information, see The New Cemetery in Lodz.
|
See this site for information on additional
records of the Lodz ghetto contained in the Lodz Archives. Transport lists of
Jews deported to the Lodz ghetto from other countries may contain names of
individuals not listed in Lodz-Names:
List of Ghetto Inhabitants, 1940-1944.
For further information, see:
- Meshenberg, Michael J. "Lodz Ghetto
and Cemetery Lists." Avotaynu,
Spring 1995.
Shirley Rotbein Flaum
|