Lodz_Ghetto_Photos_Arani

DEUTSCH-POLNISCHE
AKADEMISCHE
GESELLSCHAFT e.V.
Mendel Grosman - The Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) photograph collection
at the Wiener Library, London1
Miriam Arani
Although historical exhibitions frequently incorporate photographic sources to illustrate a
specific topic, they do not receive the same diligent source evaluation as it is good
practice with text sources. Efforts are rarely undertaken to examine the origins of these
images. The lack of source evaluated editions of relevant photographic material is a
considerable impediment to the conscientious researcher, especially if it comes to the
topic of the Nazi crimes.
Specialists in the field know about the photographs taken by Jewish
photographers at the Łódź ghetto, primarily kept in Israel (Yad Vashem, Ghetto Fighters’
House2) and the United States of America (Yivo Institute3). Often these pictures can not
be explicitly attributed to an individual photographer4. In light of this, this paper
endeavours to examine a smaller collection of 43 photographs from this ghetto, which
can be found at the Wiener Library, London.5
The State Archives in Łódź keeps 27 albums of the Jewish ghetto photographers
each holding up to 1,000 contact prints of black and white 35-mm negatives (24 x 36
1
The research in the Wiener Library was made possible by a Gerald Feldman travel grant from Stiftung DGIA. Special
thanks are due to Helgard Kramer for her kind support of the project. I would also like to thank the Deutsch-Polnische
Akademische Gesellschaft e.V. and the Wiener Library for their help in translating this text into English.
2
Zvi SZNER, Alexander SENED: With a Camera in the Ghetto. Mendel Grossman, New York 1977. First edition in
Hebrew by the Ghetto Fighters’ House 1970.
3
The Documents of the Łódź Ghetto. An Inventory of The Nachman Zonabend Collection, New York 1988, pp. 141143; Nachman ZONABEND: The Truth about the Saving of the Łódź Ghetto Archive, Stockholm 1991.
4
Ingo LOOSE: „Das Gesicht des Gettos“. Fotografien und Fotografen im Getto Litzmannstadt, in: Stiftung
Topographie des Terrors (ed.): Das Gesicht des Gettos. Bilder jüdischer Fotografen aus dem Getto Litzmannstadt
1940-1944, Berlin 2010, pp. 25-36, see p. 31.
5
http://www.wienerlibrary.co.uk/?location_id=23
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 2
mm).6 These albums, however, do not allow a precise attribution of authorship to
individual images, since the Jewish ghetto photographers did not sign their contact prints.
The collection in London is important, because it allows an attribution of authorship.
All of the 43 prints in the Wiener Library are in a format typical for photopostcards in German occupied Poland (1939-1945), 9 x 14 cm. On their back is an
imprint with a blank field for a text message on the left half, and a field for the
recipient´s address on the right. The photographic paper, which is typical for the era and
location, and the photographer´s stamps on the back side indicate that the Jewish
photographers processed the prints themselves.7 32 of the 43 prints have been stamped
with a particular photographer´s stamp on the back. 23 prints bear Mendel Grosman´s
stamp on the back, showing his address in „Litzmannstadt“, Marynarska 55, flat no. 12.
He used two different stamps while residing at that address. Nine prints are labelled with
a stamp bearing the address „Foto-Kasprowy, Litzmannstadt, Inselstr. 22A“ on them.
Most likely their author is Lajb Maliniak, to whom no pictures could be attributed so far.
6
These albums document all departments of the Jewish counsil. The photographers provided the contact prints with
handwritten information in German and Polish language. The albums do not comprise pictures of deportations and
death inside the ghetto, which were taken inoficially by the Jewish photographers. I would like to thank Tanja Kinzel
for this description of the visual sources. See illustrations in Stiftung Topographie des Terrors, op. cit., p. 6 and 35;
Tanja KINZEL: Zwangsarbeit im Fokus. Drei fotografische Perspektiven aus dem Ghetto Litzmannstadt, in: Christoph
Dieckmann, Babette Quinkert (eds.): Im Ghetto 1939-1945. Neuere Forschungen zu Alltag und Umfeld, Göttingen
2009, pp. 171-204, here p. 181, 184, 187.
7
See Diethart KERBS: Methoden und Probleme der Bildquellenforschung, in: Revolution und Fotografie. Berlin
1918/19, Berlin 1990, pp. 241-262.
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 3
He had been the proprietor of „Foto-Kasprowy“ in ul. Zawiszy8, which has been renamed
to Inselstrasse by the Nazi occupants.
Mendel Grosman (or Grossman) was born on June 27th 1913 in Stachów9 and
died in 1945. He was without doubt the best known Jewish photographer in the Łódź
ghetto. There were, all together, around a dozen Jewish photographers working in the
ghetto. We can identify (in addition to Grosman) the following individuals by name:
Henryk Ross (1910-1991), Lajb (Lejb) Maliniak (16.9.1908 - ?), Mieczysław Borkowski
und Hans Rubiczek.10 According to the ghetto chronicles from January 10th to 13th,
1942, a Jewish photographers co-operative, comprising eleven members and operating
two photographic studios (ul. Brzezińska 11 and ul. Lutomierska 34), had been granted a
concession.11
Nachman Zonabend (Nahman Sonnabend) rescued most of the known prints
made by Mendel Grosman, which had been printed.12 Grosman passed on many of his
prints to friends and acquaintances in order to increase their circulation and to hand them
down to posterity.13 The Nazi occupation government excluded Jews from press
photography/photo journalism, therefore the Jewish ghetto photographers had no chance
to publish their images legally. Most photographic prints of the London collection bear
the word „Hala“ in pencil on their back – a Polish nickname for Halina (Helena)14. This
inscription provides a clue to the handing down of the holdings: the Wiener Library
received the bundle of photographs in June 1976 from Helen Aronson, née Chmura.
During the existence of the Łódź ghetto she worked as a cleaner in the office of Hans
8
See Janina STRUK: Photographing the Holocaust. Interpretations of the Evidence, London 2004, p. 86;
ARCHIWUM PAŃSTWOWE W ŁODZI, INSTITUT PAMIĘCI NARODOWEJ (eds.): Getto Łodzkie –
Litzmannstadt Getto 1940-1944, Łódź 2009, p. 286; LOOSE, op. cit., p. 30 footnote 16.
9
ARCHIWUM PAŃSTWOWE W ŁODZI, INSTITUT PAMIĘCI NARODOWEJ (eds.), op. cit., p. 286.
10
See STRUK, op. cit., p. 87 and 93; ŁÓDŹ GHETTO ALBUM. Photographs by Henryk Ross. Selected by Martin
Parr and Timothy Prus. Foreword by Jan van Pelt, London 2004; LOOSE, op. cit., p. 31.
11
See Sascha FEUCHERT, Erwin LEIBFRIED, Jörg RIECKE (eds.): Die Chronik des Gettos Lodz/Litzmannstadt:
1942, Göttingen 2007, p. 36.
12
See Arieh BEN-MENAHEM: Mendel Grossman – The Photographer of the Łódź Ghetto, in: SZNER/SENED, op.
cit., pp. 99-107, here p. 107; FEUCHERT et al., op. cit.: supplements und annex, pp. 185-187, 206.
13
BEN-MENAHEM, op. cit., p. 106.
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 4
Biebow, the German head official of the ghetto administration. Mendel Grosman gave
this collection of pictures to „Hala“ alias Halina Chmura, who survived the Holocaust
and was able to immigrate to the United Kingdom.
The collection in London proves that Mendel Grosman tried to distribute not only
his own photographs, but those of at least one of the other Jewish ghetto photographers.
The pictures show various workshops („Arbeits-Ressorts“15), established by the Jewish
council („Judenrat“) in the Łódź ghetto, which was put up in spring 1940 by the German
occupying forces in Poland. In the course of time it was transformed from the largest
detention camp for Polish Jews into a gigantic forced labour camp for Jews from various
countries. From the end of 1940 o, the textile manufacturers played a crucial role in the
war effort, providing the German Wehrmacht with garments.16 The second thematical
focal point of the photographs is health care for those interned in the ghetto17: chemists,
hospitals, dentists, and especially health care for infants and children.
In early 1942, the Nazi regime began to deport those held in the Łódź ghetto to
the extermination camp in Kulmhof (Chełmno) on the Ner. The last Jews, deemed too
infirm for hard labour, children, the sick and the elderly, were deported in September
1942 and duly murdered. In light of this information, one can conclude that the discussed
photographs must have been taken in a time frame from late 1940 to September 1942.
Examining these images today as objective representations of the past perceives
photographs taken during the Nazi era without critically analysing the circumstances
under which the pictures were taken. This can lead to the mistaken notion, such
photographs would trivialise the Holocaust. This is especially true of the pictures
14
I would like to thank Ewa Czerwiakowski for this information.
A list of all workshops („Arbeits-Ressorts“) and their location is given in: Artur EISENBACH (ed.), Dokumenty i
Materiały do Dziejów Okupacji niemieckiej w Polsce, Vol. 3: Getto Łódzkie, Warszawa 1946.
16
Michal UNGER: Jewish Forced Labor in the Lodz Ghetto and its influence on German Policy, in: Paweł SAMUŚ,
Wiesław PUŚ (eds.), Fenomen getta łódzkiego 1940-1944, Łódź 2006, pp. 169-183, here p. 174; Julian
BARANOWSKI: Utworzenie i organizacja getta w Łodzi, in: SAMUŚ/PUŚ, op. cit., pp. 115-128, here p. 122f.
17
See BARANOWSKI, op. cit., pp. 115-128, here p. 123f.
15
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 5
showing health care in the ghetto. They might suggest that the Jewish ghetto inmates
were provided with sufficient medical treatment, which was anything but the case. To
evaluate the visual source, one has to ask not only about the content, but also about the
author, the conditions in which these pictures were taken, about their purpose and the
intended recipient of these photographs. These pictures were taken by a Jewish
photographer (interned) in the ghetto and have been passed on to others interned therein.
They served as an informal internal communication among ghetto inmates. They
probably represent – like the fruit trees planted by people held in the Łódź ghetto18 – their
hope of eventually surviving despite being forced to endure systematic starvation and
slave labour organised by the German ghetto administrators.19 Those subjected to the
genocidal machinations of the Nazi regime strived not only in this instance as much as
possible to counter the visual slander of Nazi propaganda to the best of their abilities
realising images of themselves as dignified human beings.20
The Wiener Library digitized these photographs and supplemented them with an
interview with Helen Aronson conducted in 2009.
18
See Karl STUHLPFARRER: Litzmannstadt – eine Stadt ohne Juden... , in: SAMUŚ/PUŚ, op. cit., pp. 135-141, here
p. 140f.
19
See JÜDISCHES HISTORISCHES INSTITUT WARSCHAU (ed.): Faschismus – Getto – Massenmord.
Dokumentation über Ausrottung und Widerstand der Juden in Polen. Berlin 1961, pp. 16-21, p. 258 Doc. 217, p. 292
Doc. 221, p. 338 Doc. 262, p. 393 Doc. 304, p. 454 Doc. 366; Hanno LOEWY, Gerhard SCHOENBERNER (eds.):
„Unser einziger Weg ist Arbeit“. Das Getto in Łódź 1940-1944. Exhibition catalog by the Jewish Museum Frankfurt at
Main; Wien 1990; Michael ALBERTI: Die Verfolgung und Vernichtung der Juden im Reichsgau Wartheland 19391945, Wiesbaden 2005.
20
See: GETTO WARSZAWSKIE 1940-1942. Zdjęcia wykonane przez ludność żydowska. Exhibition catalogue by the
Jewih Historical Institute in Warsaw, Warszawa 1996; Kersten BRANDT, Hanno LOEWY, Krystyna OLEKSY(eds.):
Vor der Auslöschung ... Fotografien gefunden in Auschwitz. München 2001. See referring to the same district: Miriam
Y. ARANI: Fotografische Selbst- und Fremdbilder von Deutschen und Polen im Reichsgau Wartheland 1939–45.
Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Region Wielkopolska, Hamburg 2008, p. 721-752.
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 6
List of photographs giving stamps and other notations on their back:
WL 5899 – no stamp – „Hala“
Workshops („Arbeits-Ressorts“)
WL 7387 – Foto-Kasprowy – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 7
WL 7415 – Foto-Kasprowy – „Hala“
WL 7404 – Foto-Kasprowy
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 8
WL 7422 – Foto-Kasprowy – „Hala“
WL 7406 – Foto-Kasprowy
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 9
Jewish Ghetto Police („Ordnungsdienst“)
WL 7421 – Foto-Kasprowy – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 10
Offices
WL 7412 – no stamp – „Hala“
WL 7398 – Grosman – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 11
WL 7574 – Grosman – „Hala“
WL 7401 – Grosman – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 12
WL 7414 – Grosman – „Hala“
Shoemakers
WL 7399 – Grosman – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 13
WL 7402 – Grosman – „Hala“
WL 7595 – Grosman – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 14
Textile workshops
WL 7403 – Grosman – „Hala“
WL 7575 – Grosman – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 15
WL 7413 – Grosman – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 16
WL 7405 – Grosman – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 17
WL 7400 – no stamp – „Hala“
WL 7392 – Foto-Kasprowy – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 18
Pharmacies
WL 7388 – no stamp – „Hala“
WL 7390 – Grosman – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 19
WL 7389 – no stamp – „Hala“
WL 7391 – no stamp – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 20
Newborn nurseries and paediatric units
WL 7397 – FOTO Grosman – „Hala“
WL 1749 – no stamp – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 21
WL 5980 – FOTO Grosman – „Hala“
WL 5978 – FOTO Grosman
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 22
. WL 1759 – FOTO Grosman
WL 7407 – Foto-Kasprowy
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 23
WL 1760 – no stamp – „Hala“
WL 7417 – Foto-Kasprowy – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 24
Dental Treatment
WL 5979 – Grosman – „Hala“
WL 7409 – Grosman – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 25
WL 7411 – Grosman – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 26
WL 7410 – Grosman – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 27
Hospitals
WL 7416 – no stamp – „Hala“
WL 7420 – Grosman – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 28
WL 7506 – no stamp – „Hala“
WL 7418 – no stamp – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013
Miriam Arani
Primary sources concerning the authorship of photographs from the
Łódź ghetto (1940-1944) in the Wiener Library, London
Page: 29
WL 7419 – Grosman – „Hala“
WL 7408 – FOTO Grosman – „Hala“
Deutsch-Polnische Akademische Gesellschaft e.V.
www.dp-ag.org
© text: Miriam Arani, photographs: Wiener Library 2013