The Lodz Ghetto Work Pass of Dwosia Spektor
The Story of
Dwosia Spektor
Dwosia
Dlugacz was born on March 20, 1885. She married Josef Spektor, a Hebrew
teacher, and they had two daughters and a grandchild. Dwosia's brother,
Benjamin Dlugacz, a pharmacist in Lodz, and his wife, Brindla (nee' Jacubowicz),
were both born in Bogdanow (near Belchatow) and had a daughter, Ida, and
a son, Adam. Before the Germans entered Lodz in September 1939, Adam escaped
to Slonim, still in the Russian sector of Poland. Afterwards, he was never
heard and was presumed lost when the Germans took the town.
Ida and her
parents were forced to move into the Lodz ghetto. Both of Ida's parents
died in the ghetto; her father was shot. After Benjamin's death, Ida was
questioned by the Gestapo about hidden stock from his pharmacy. Ida saved
her own life by telling the Gestapo what she knew. She managed to gather
enough money to have both her parents buried in the Jewish cemetery, despite
the desperate situation in the ghetto.
After Dwosia's
husband died of disease in the ghetto, she took her own life rather than
be a burden to her children. Ida Dlugacz and her cousins, together with
one cousin's husband and child, were deported to Auschwitz in 1944. Upon
arrival, only Ida and one of her cousins were "selected" to live. The cousin's
child called to his mother and she managed to cross over to join him, dying
with him.
Ida Dlugacz
survived the Holocaust and was somehow able to recover her aunt Dwosia's
Lodz ghetto work pass, pictured below. The work pass was signed by Hans
Biebow, the Nazi administrator of the ghetto, later executed as a war criminal.
It is a horrific
story, but only one among millions.
February
23, 1999
Aubrey
Jacobus
Aubrey@Jacobyte.com
Image of
work pass courtesy of Aubrey Jacobus
Translation
Translation
courtesy of Fritz Neubauer and Marilyn Schapiro
Diagonally
over the face of the pass, stamped:
"GESTORBEN"
("died")
Handwritten:
- "9. Mai
1944" ("9 May 1944")
"f. d.
Statistik" ("for the statistic," followed by initials)
"Tgb 6503"
("Tagebuch" or "diary")
-
(Photo)
(no entry)
Signature of the Card owner
(no entry)
Signature of the factory manager
Litzmannstadt-Ghetto, the__of 194_ |
GHETTO LABOR
DEPARTMENT
Identification-Card
Worker No. 59542
Name: Spektor
First name: Dwosia
Date of birth: March 20, 1885
address: Franzstrasse 12
is employed in factory No. 65
House slipper department II
as Shoe weaver
Day employment started: (no entry)
Typewritten addendum: new address:
Rembrandt 13
(He) (She) is allowed to
be on the streets during curfew hours.
Ghetto Labor Department
Approved by (illegible) No.70.002 |
Trade learned:
Household
Present work: Shoe weaver
Sex: Female
Age on January 1, 1943: 58 years
Working started: January 15, 1943
Unemployed from 194_to 194_
Unemployed from 194_to 194_
Unemployed from 194_to 194_
____________________
Workers keep in mind!
Whoever does not have a Worker's Card, will
be considered unemployed. If the Worker's Card is lost, inform the Factory
Manager immediately, so that he can apply for a Duplicate Card at the Ghetto
Labor Department. Such cards have the stamp Duplicate Card and are as valid
as the original. |
To be
followed exactly!
Be careful to keep the card in the protective
folder so that it remains legible
Any alterations made by the card holder will
be punished
Keep with you at all times
This identification card is not transferable
Ghetto Administration
signed: BIEBOW.
|
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