OCTOBER 1 - DECEMBER 31, 2009
The city of Lodz was the first of the large ghettos in occupied Poland. Created in February 1940 with a population of 160,000 Jewish residents in just 4 square miles, it became a major industrial area providing the German army with clothing and other supplies. Children as young as nine worked in the factories to earn food and to protect them from deportation.
When not toiling in the factories, Lodz residents created albums which most often reported a variety of the statistics of the community. One unique album – the Story of the Lodz Ghetto Children – tells the story of slave labor in the ghetto in the style of a fable. Consisting of 17 illustrated panels and explanatory text, it exposes the realities of ghetto life. This beautifully illustrated poem chronicles the imaginary adventures of children, interwoven with a subtext that expresses the despair and frustration of life under harsh ghetto conditions.
Death by disease took almost a quarter of the residents, and over time many more were deported to the notorious death camp in Chelmno. By 1944 only 60,000 residents remained, and except for about 1,000 who were left behind to close the factories and clean the town, this final group was transported to Auschwitz.
The original album of The Legend of the Lodz Ghetto Children, was given to Yad Vashem (Israel’s Holocaust museum and education center) in 1971. It was donated by Chava Yasni, the widow of Abraham Wolf Yasni, a Holocaust Survivor who found the album in the ruins of the ghetto after the war. Its illustrated pages – which closely resemble the images in mid-century children’s books – were transformed into an exhibit in the early 1980s.
The Story of the Lodz Ghetto Children will be exhibited at the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center from October 1 through December 20. Hours are 9am – 4 pm Monday through Thursday, 9 am – 1 pm Friday, and 1 pm – 4 pm Sunday. There is no admission charge.
