Collection RC0612 - From the Jewish ghetto in Otwock, Poland collection

Zone du titre et de la mention de responsabilité

Titre propre

From the Jewish ghetto in Otwock, Poland collection

Dénomination générale des documents

Titre parallèle

Compléments du titre

Mentions de responsabilité du titre

Notes du titre

Niveau de description

Collection

Cote

RC0612

Zone de l'édition

Mention d'édition

Mentions de responsabilité relatives à l'édition

Zone des précisions relatives à la catégorie de documents

Mention d'échelle (cartographique)

Mention de projection (cartographique)

Mention des coordonnées (cartographiques)

Mention d'échelle (architecturale)

Juridiction responsable et dénomination (philatélique)

Zone des dates de production

Date(s)

  • 1939-[1948] (Production)

Zone de description matérielle

Description matérielle

5 post cards and 1 letter in Yiddish
6 post cards and 1 letter in Polish
2 post cards in Polish-influenced German

Zone de la collection

Titre propre de la collection

Titres parallèles de la collection

Compléments du titre de la collection

Mention de responsabilité relative à la collection

Numérotation à l'intérieur de la collection

Note sur la collection

Zone de la description archivistique

Nom du producteur

(1940-1942)

Histoire administrative

Located south of Warsaw, Otwock had a large Jewish community. The Nazis imposed a ghetto in Otwock in the fall of 1940. More than 12,000 Jews resided in the ghetto. Two thousand Jews died of hunger, and another 2,000 were shot during the ghetto’s liquidation in August 1942. Most of the remaining residents of the ghetto were sent to the Treblinka concentration camp. The fate of the people who wrote to H.D. Schwartz is not known.

Historique de la conservation

Portée et contenu

The collection consists of correspondence received by H.D. Schwartz (also David and Eva Schwartz) in Brooklyn, New York from family members and acquaintances (Syma Grzebieniarz, D. Segal, R. Szware) in Otwock, Poland. Many of the post cards are self-addressed by H.D. Schwartz. Schwartz was apparently arranging for the immigration of family members from Poland to the United States, and Syma informed him of her activities in this respect. Several cards are stamped Judenrat der Stadt Otwock (and the Polish equivalent).

The correspondence relates to the health of the family members and the writers’ connection to children and family, urging loved ones to keep in touch through letters. Reference is made to Josek and Sara, Syma’s children, who live far away in Luck (under Russian control) and with whom Syma cannot communicate directly. One of the pieces of correspondence seems to be by Sara. It is to “brother” and “sister in law”, probably of Brooklyn. Sara informs them about having a baby. The baby is also a topic in Syma’s correspondence.

Written in Yiddish, the last piece of correspondence is a long letter (dated 20 March [1948]) about the unknown writer’s experiences as he and his family tried to flee and save their lives. It, too, touches on health-related matters, conditions in the ghetto, people and neighbours who were killed by the Germans, the constant threat of being shot, locating people who are lost, and attempts to escape the ghetto to a safer place.

Zone des notes

État de conservation

Source immédiate d'acquisition

The collection (24-2008) was purchased from Benjamin Katz in June 2008. He acquired the correspondence from Sam Simchovitch, who fled Otwock in September 1939. He spent the war years in the Soviet Union and then immigrated to Canada in 1949.

Classement

Langue des documents

Écriture des documents

Localisation des originaux

Disponibilité d'autres formats

Restrictions d'accès

There are no access restrictions

Délais d'utilisation, de reproduction et de publication

Instruments de recherche

Éléments associés

Éléments associés

Accroissements

Further accruals are not expected.

Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)

Zone du numéro normalisé

Numéro normalisé

Mots-clés

Mots-clés - Lieux

Mots-clés - Noms

Mots-clés - Genre

Zone du contrôle

Identifiant de la description du document

RC0612

Identifiant du service d'archives

Règles ou conventions

Statut

Niveau de détail

Dates de production, de révision et de suppression

Langue de la description

Langage d'écriture de la description

Sources

Zone des entrées