June 1, 1944 – Unknown Boy

A scrap of a diary written on this date reflected the terrible conditions in the Lodz Ghetto.  

One of the most revealing and heartbreaking diaries from the Holocaust was written by an unnamed boy in the Lodz Ghetto from May 5th through August 3rd, 1944. He wrote in the margins of an old French book, ironically titled, The Truly Rich. This boy had probably been imprisoned in the ghetto for a long time, but only began keeping a diary near the end. In fact, his first entry stated, “I decided to write a diary, though it is a bit too late.” It was too late, indeed.  By the spring of 1944, he could not have been in doubt about the eventual fate of the ghetto and its people.

“I decided to write a diary, though it is a bit too late.”

The words of this boy clearly reveal the desperation and despair experienced by all of the ghetto inhabitants who struggled to survive in the face of overwhelming deprivation. On June 1st, he wrote, “I just finished my ‘loaf’. Today was the third day since I received it. It was supposed to last me for another five days – but what can I do when I am so devoid of will-power that I ate it in three days? Afterward I suffer terrible hunger. Is there no bread for me and for thousands like me, in this world, in this most corrupt of all worlds?”

Learn more about the Lodz Ghetto.