Nachman Zonabend

Title: Nachman Zonabend

Inclusive Dates: 1939-1944

ID: RG 241

Extent Information

8'11"; 17 5"lgl; 3 2.5"lgl; 1 2.5" ltr; 2 3"lgl; 2 3"ovr; 1 map folder

Arrangement

Folders arranged numerically; boxes 24 & 25 unarranged

Creators

Zonabend, Nachman

Administrative/Biographical History

Nachman Zonabend was an inmate of the Lodz Ghetto from 1940 to 1945. In August 1944, following the liquidation of the ghetto, the Germans assigned him to a work unit whose task was to clean up the deserted ghetto. He succeeded in hiding parts of the ghetto archives, as well as photographs and art works of ghetto photographers and artists. He recovered these materials after the liberation of Lodz in January 1945. In 1947, Nachman Zonabend donated the bulk of his collection to the YIVO Archives. These are fragmentary records of the Eldest of the Jews of the Lodz Ghetto, by which name the Jewish ghetto administration was known. The ghetto was established by the Nazis on February 8, 1940, and Chaim Mordechai Rumkowski became its powerful Eldest of the Jews. He retained this office until the final liquidation of the ghetto and his own deportation to Auschwitz on August 29, 1944.

Subjects (links to similar collections)

Ghettos, Holocaust
Holocaust and Aftermath
Photographers
Poland
Zonabend, Nachman

Forms of Material (links to similar genres)

Documents - Collection

Finding Aid Information

YIVO-published inventory, English:"Documents of the Lodz Ghetto"

Administrative Information

Access Notes: YIVO Archives collections are open to researchers only by appointment with an archivist. To inquire about papers and records, write to Chief Archivist, archives@yivo.cjh.org. To inquire about photographs and films, write to Photo and Film Archivist at Photofilm@yivo.cjh.org. To inquire about sound recordings, write to Sound Archivist, lsklamberg@yivo.cjh.org. For art works and artifacts, write to Chief Archivist at archives@yivo.cjh.org.

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Other Formats: MK 311.1-.8 [Note that the order of papers in the collection was changed after microfilming completed.]

Description: The records reflect the organizational structure of the Jewish ghetto administration and consist of the following: Correspondence with German government agencies, 1939-1941, including the Police and Gestapo, the *Oberburgermeister* of Litzmannstadt (German name for Lodz), the *Gettoverwaltung* (German administration of the ghetto). The correspondence pertains to the establishment of the ghetto, expropriation of Jewish property, resettlement of Lodz Jews into the ghetto, sanitary conditions, ghetto industry, anti-Jewish ordinances. Announcements issued by Rumkowski, 1940-1944. A complete set of daily communications to the ghetto population on all subjects pertinent to ghetto life such as: confiscations of Jewish property, food rationing, availability of work, relief distribution, deportations, liquidation of the ghetto. Files of various departments of the Jewish ghetto administration including labor divisions and workshops, the Jewish police (*Ordnungsdienst*), Statistics Department, Ghetto Court, Archives, Resettlement Department, Deportation Commission. Of special interest are the Archives files which contain essays and reports written by the Archives staff expressly for the purpose of historical record on subjects related to ghetto life. Outstanding in this group are reports and literary sketches by Joseph Zelkowicz, including his extensive account about the *Gesperre* (Yid. Shpere) - the deportation of the children, the old and the infirm in September, 1942. In addition, the Archives files contain bulletins of the *Daily Chronicle* of the Lodz Ghetto, transcripts of speeches by Rumkowski, and issues of the *Geto-tsaytung*, a short-lived official publication of the Eldest of the Jews. Iconographic materials, including photographs and albums. The photographs taken by Mendel Grossman, Henryk Ross, Maliniak, Zonabend and others, provide an extensive visual record of ghetto life.