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 VII: Eyewitness Accounts of Survivors 1939-1958

Language of Material: Polish , Yiddish , Russian

Folder 166: “Ghetto warszawskie i jego zaglada” (“The Warsaw Ghetto and Its Destruction”) by Eugeniusz Mec. undated: Language of Material: Polish
Folder 166 A: Fragment of “Wspomnienia z ghetta warszawskiego” (“Reminiscences of the Warsaw Ghetto”) by Helena Szereszewska (Polish, one chapter in Yiddish). undated: Language of Material: Polish , one chapter in Yiddish
Folder 167: “Na oczach swiata” (“Before the Eyes of the World”) by an unknown writer. undated: Language of Material: Polish
Folder 168: Unfinished diary 1939 November 26
Folder 169: Eyewitness accounts undated: “Szesc miesiecy w wiezieniu niemieckim: opowiadanie bylego wieznia”.
“Zycie dziecka uchodzcy” by Dr. Irena Filozof .
“Zycie muzyczne w ghecie warszawskim” by Marceli Reich.
“Likwidacja ghetta warszawskiego.”; Language of Material: Polish
Folder 170: “Ostatni oddzial Walczacego ghetta.” undated: Language of Material: Polish
Folder 171: “There Once Was, But is No More Sofiowka” by Albin Ostrowsky 1945 December
Folder 172: Eyewitness account, anonymous. 1943 April 26: Language of Material: Polish
Folder 173: Hannah Fryshdorf, Memories of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Ghetto Uprising undated, 1958: “Beginning of the War-September 1, 1939”.
“Those Who Did Not Survive Until the Uprising”.
“It is Fifteen Years…”.
“The First Seder Night 1943-Uprising”.
“Memories of the Warsaw Ghetto-The Glory of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.”; Language of Material: Yiddish
Folder 174: “The Golden Autumn” by Vladimir Dimentry. undated: Language of Material: Russian
Folder 175: “German Crimes against the Jewish Population in Poland” by the lawyer Moses Maslanka, Warsaw. undated: Language of Material: Polish
Folder 176: “The Jews in the Polish Army,” manuscript by Zalman Kaplan. undated: Language of Material: Yiddish
Folder 177: Newspaper clipping: “With the Partisans in the Forests of Vilna” by David Kahana. 1946 September: Language of Material: Yiddish