Shmuel Arthur Zygelbojm
Title: Shmuel Arthur Zygelbojm
Inclusive Dates: 1940-2001
ID: RG 1454
Extent Information
4'6"; 10 5"ltr, 1 4"ovr
Administrative/Biographical History
Born on February 21, 1895 to a poor family near Chelm, Poland. After the outbreak of World War I, he became active in the Bund. Was subsequently assigned a prominent role in the party. Following World War I, he became a member of the Bund's Warsaw Committee. In 1924, he was elected to the party's Central Committee. Was elected alderman in the Warsaw city government. In 1936, he settled in Lodz, where he was also elected alderman in the local city government. In 1939, he fled to Warsaw and helped to organize a resistance against the Third Reich. In February 1940, he left Poland and traveled to France and New York, where he worked with the American branch of the Bund. In April 1942, he went to London to serve as the Bund's representative in the Polish National Council, an advisory body to the Polish government-in-exile. From late 1942, he set out to bring attention to the plight of Polish Jews, but soon sensed that his efforts were fruitless. After news of the Warsaw ghetto uprising and its destruction reached him, he decided to make a statement that he hoped would lead to rescue efforts on behalf of Poland's then still remaining Jews. To this end, he took his own life on May 12, 1943. Though he was honored in special ceremonies in London and in New York, his act of protest had no direct impact on any attempt to rescue Jews from occupied Poland.
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Collection Material Type: Personal Papers
