Guide to the Territorial Collection, Poland, 1939-1945 RG 116. Poland 2

Processed by Solomon Krystal. Edited by Rivka Schiller, 2007

Collection rearranged with the assistance of a grant from the Conference of Jewish Materials Claims Against Germany (New York) and the Fondation pour la Memoire de la Shoah, Paris. Finding aid edited, encoded and posted online thanks to a grant from the Gruss Lipper Family Foundation.

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
Email: archives@yivo.cjh.org
URL: http://www.yivo.org

Electronic finding aid was converted to EAD version 2002 by Yakov Sklyar in January 2007. Description is in English.

Collection Overview

Title: Guide to the Territorial Collection, Poland, 1939-1945 RG 116. Poland 2

ID: RG 116. Poland-2

Extent: 4.3 Linear Feet

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged topically and according to locality in 229 numbered folders, with towns and cities appearing according to their Polish names (e.g., Rzeszow—as opposed to Reyshe in Yiddish).

There are 10 series in this collection:

Languages: Polish, Russian, Yiddish, German, English, French, Hebrew, Swedish, Danish

Abstract

The Territorial Collection, Poland 2 is comprised of documents that were amassed at the YIVO in New York City. The collection is of mixed provenance and is fragmentary in nature, consisting of miscellaneous materials dating back to World War II and its immediate aftermath. The Territorial Collection Poland 2 is a portion of the greater Territorial Collection (RG 116), which incorporates materials that are relevant to over 42 different countries and geographical regions. The overarching theme of the collection Poland 2 is the annihilation of the Jewish life in Poland under the Nazi rule. Chronologically, the Territorial Collection Poland 2 follows the Territorial Collection Poland 1, which pertains to pre-World War II Poland; and precedes the Territorial Collection Poland 3, which pertains to post-World War II Poland.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The collection includes texts of German decrees and anti-Jewish laws; press articles written after the war about the fate of the Polish Jewry; materials relating to communities, ghettos and concentration camps; materials on Jewish resistance; records of war crimes trials of 1946-1950; letters from Nazi-occupied Poland sent abroad; texts of poems and songs written in the ghettos. The latter part of the collection contains materials pertaining to Holocaust memorial observances and commemoration meetings. A large section pertains to Warsaw and the Warsaw ghetto uprising. Files on communities contain personal documents and correspondence.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions:

Open to researchers.

For more information, contact:

Chief Archivist

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street

New York, NY 10011

email: archives@yivo.cjh.org

Acquisition Method: Various donors.

Preferred Citation: Published citations should read as follows:Identification of item, date (if known); YIVO Archives; Territorial Collection, Poland, 2; RG 116-Poland 2; folder number.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

Series 1: Series I: German Anti-Jewish Decrees in Poland, 1939-1944,
Series 2: Series II: Warsaw Ghetto, 1939-1944,
Series 3: Series III: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of April 19th 1943, 1942-1948,
Series 4: Series IV: Jewish Communities Under the German Rule, 1938-1967,
Series 5: Series V: Concentration and Death Camps, 1939-1965,
Series 6: Series VI: War Crime Trials, 1944-1949, 1955, 1964, 1978,
Series 7: Series VII: Eyewitness Accounts of Survivors, 1939-1958,
Series 8: Series VIII: Holocaust Memorial Observances After World War II, 1944-1973,
Series 9: Series IX: Newspaper Clippings, 1939-1969,
Series 10: Series X: Miscellaneous, 1939-1973,
All

Series III: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of April 19th 1943 1942-1948

Language of Material: English , German , Polish , Yiddish , Russian

Folder 31: The Warsaw ghetto uprising. undated: How the Jewish Fighting Organization (Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa-Z.O.B.) came into being.
Preparations for the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
“The Battle of the Warsaw Ghetto” by Morton Wishnegrad.
Correspondence between two ghetto fighters bearing pseudonyms.; Language of Material: Polish and English
Folder 32: The Warsaw ghetto uprising. undated: “The First Fights in the ghetto”.
Account by “Kazik,” Symcha Ratajzer, a ZOB fighter.
Print materials to be used for lectures re: the Warsaw ghetto uprising.; Language of Material: Polish and Yiddish
Folder 33: Mordechai Anielewicz, leader of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. undated, 1942 August 31-1943 September 15: A short Yiddish biography (photocopy).
The last letter from M. Anielewicz.
Eyewitness account of a Pole, Stanislaw Stefanski (a native of Radom, date of birth: 4/30/1898), who witnessed firsthand the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
“Our Comrades are Fighting”-A letter from Israel, 5/3/1943.
“Khurbn Varshe,” first page of a manuscript, August 31, 1942 (photo), author unknown.
A letter to the Jewish Fighting Organization (Z.O.B.) from Poniatowa, 9/15/1943 (photocopy).; Language of Material: Yiddish and German
Folder 34: “The Manhunt on the Aryan Side: The Death of a Hero,” about the death of Abrasza Blum. My experiences during the January Action (1943), by Stasio Hoffer. Diary of a boy, 13, written in 1944 on the Aryan side in Warsaw. 1944: Language of Material: English and Polish
Folder 35: “The Destruction of the city of Warsaw”-A report from Fischer to Hans Frank, 12/5/1943 (copy, German). German document re: employment of Polish workers in liquidating the Warsaw ghetto, 5/15/1943, signed by Brandt. 1943 May 15-1943 December 5: Language of Material: some materials are German
Folder 36: Hersh Wasser on the Warsaw ghetto uprising, 1948. “Motivations of the crime,” an essay about the Nuremberg trials, author unknown. undated, 1948: Language of Material: Polish
Folder 37: Miscellaneous articles on Jewish resistance in Poland. Award given to the soldier, A. Frankel, on behalf of his service in the Red Army, 7/15/1944. undated, 1944 July 15: Language of Material: Yiddish and Russian
Folder 38: “The Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw Is No More”: The Juergen Stroop report on the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto. undated: Language of Material: English translation
Folder 39: War crimes charges made by Poland against Germany. A Nuremberg war crime trials document. undated: Language of Material: German
Folder 40: Criminal trial of Karl Kaleske, adjutant to the SS and Police commanders in Warsaw, Von Sammern-Frankenegg and Juergen Stroop. 1942 November-1943 August: Language of Material: English
Folder 41: Criminal trial of the SS General Juergen Stroop. undated
Folder 42: Confession of Franz Konrad. undated: Language of Material: English