Publishing Department

This book is based on Listy o Zagładzie [Letters on the Shoah], the first volume of the Polish edition of the materials of the Ringelblum Archive, the underground archive of the Warsaw ghetto. It was published in 1997 and contained letters testifying to the dying ghettos, destruction of Jews in killing centres and mass executions. Although many of the letters concerned individual persons and families, most often it was a way to convey information about entire communities. The editor of the volume was Ruta Sakowska (1922– 2011), a pioneering researcher and expert in the history of the Warsaw ghetto and the Oyneg Shabes group. She was an initiator of the project to publish the entire Ringelblum Archive in Polish. (excerpt from the Introduction)

Rohatyn, 20 March 1942

Dear Friend,

Unfortunately, there is nobody I could buy a birthday present for. Two days before our little sunshine’s birthday we lost our Dearest Parents, Sweet Pepka, and Sweetest Imeczek. Dudek and I remain. Alone in our pain and despair. There is no consolation for us. We are ‘alive.’ What for? For whom? We have lost four of our dearest souls. How horrible their death was. They died along with 2,000 of our brothers and sisters. In a common grave. That shechita was unprecedented. They spared neither pregnant women, nor little children, nor the elderly. It was a bloodbath. Genia arrived unexpectedly in the morning, surrounded the quarter and ran rampant until the evening along with the autochthons. If only they had let Imeczek go, that wonderful child, we would have something to live for and something to hold on to. Our pain and despair are growing with every passing day. No matter how hard I try I cannot accept the thought that They are gone. I close my eyes and see Them before me. I can still hear Imeczek’s tinkling laughter…

Sender unknown, letter to Edzio (Edward?) [surname unknown]

You can buy the book here

Publication co-financed by the Claims Conference and Taube Philantropies