Metadata: Collection of documents from ghettos and camps in Central-Eastern Europe 1939-1944. Jewish Community of Kraków
Collection
- Country:
- Poland
- Holding institution:
- The Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute
- Holding institution (official language):
- Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. Emanuela Ringelbluma
- Postal address:
- Archiwum, Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. E. Ringelbluma, ul. Tłomackie 3/5, 00-090 Warszawa
- Phone number:
- (+48 22) 827 92 21
- Email:
- secretary@jhi.pl
- Reference number:
- 312/218
- Title:
- Collection of documents from ghettos and camps in Central-Eastern Europe 1939-1944. Jewish Community of Kraków
- Title (official language):
- Kolekcja dokumentów z gett i obozów Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej1939-1944. Gmina Żydowska w Krakowie (Jüdische Gemeinde Krakau)
- Creator/accumulator:
- Jewish Community in Kraków
- Date(s):
- 1939/1942
- Language:
- German
- Polish
- Extent:
- 78 units (20 linear metres)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Photographic images
- Physical condition:
- Good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains documents about Jews in occupied Kraków. The most valuable part of it are personal card catalogues, which are often the only remaining trace of many individuals:
ref. no. 218/34 / 1-264: personal questionnaires of individuals referred for deportation from Kraków, including name and surname, date and place of birth, occupation, address of residence and photography (the volume of this material is rare: 19,901 documents);
ref. no. 218/33 / A-Ż (numbering within each letter of the alphabet): registration cards of people applying for permission to remain in the Kraków ghetto, including name and surname, maiden name, date and place of birth, occupation, address of the abandoned apartment, new address, number of children; there are instances. in which one person had several registration cards with different addresses (16,189 documents);
ref. no. 218/37 / 1-13000: copies of identity documents (kenkarts) of persons assigned to resettlement from Kraków, including name and surname, family name, date and place of birth, address, occupation, information about family members. Unfortunately, these materials do not have photos and are not complete (10,912 documents);
ref. no. 218/35 / 1-361: identity documents (ausweis) of Kraków residents released from deportation (10 August - 19 December 1940) (364 documents);
ref. no. 218/78 / 1-83: Original photo ID cards, which, like the previous documents, contain basic information: name and surname, maiden name, date and place of birth, address, occupation, marital status (83 documents).
In addition, the collection includes:
ref. nos. 3-13, 55-57: documents of the Judenrat (ordinances and instructions, reports, correspondence),
ref. nos. 14-40: documents of the Social Welfare of the Jewish Community in Kraków concerning mainly refugees, various name lists, materials concerning the deportation (including the above-mentioned records),
ref. nos. 41-50, 58-77: personal documents of Kraków Jews (ID cards, letters, ID cards, testimonies, permits, excerpts from kenkarts),
ref. nos. 1-2, 51-54: records of the German authorities (ordinances, circular, forms of documents).
- Archival history:
- The materials were included in the Archives of the Central Jewish Historical Commission in 1946-1947. They had been sent to the Headquarters by the Provincial Jewish Historical Commission in Kraków. The personal documents probably come from private individuals who donated them to the Archives of the Jewish Historical Institute.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
About 65,000 Jews lived in Kraków in 1939, constituting a quarter of the total population. After the outbreak of the war, their number increased by approximately 10,000 refugees. The German authorities, striving to reduce the number of Jews in the capital of the General Government, ordered their deportation on 18 May 1940. From mid-1940 to 28 February 1941, about 60,000 people were resettled (mainly to the Lublin region); some 11,000 remained. A Judenrat was established at the very beginning of the occupation, headed by Marek Bieberstein and, after his execution, by Artur Rosenzweig. After Rozenzweig's death, Dawid Gutter became the president. With the help of the Jewish militia (established on 5 July 1940) and informers, he diligently collaborated with the Germans, which did not shield him from death.
As of 20 March 1941, Jews were not allowed to leave the ghetto being established at that time. From October 15, leaving the ghetto was punishable by death. As a result of the expansion of the city boundaries at the end of 1941, the number of Jews increased to about 20,000. On 1-8 June 1942 and 28 October 1942, the Germans deported about 13,000 Jews from Kraków to the killing centre in Bełżec, and on 14 March 1943, about 2,000 Jews were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp. Many died in the streets of the city and the survivors were taken to the camp in Płaszów. Most of the Jewish policemen were killed there in 1943.
It is estimated that approximately 3,000 Jews from Kraków survived the war. In April 1945, about 500 Jews lived in Kraków, about 20,000 in June 1947 and about 4,000 in April 1950. Most emigrated to Palestine, the United States and Western Europe.
- Access points: locations:
- Krakow
- System of arrangement:
- The collection is arranged thematically.
- Finding aids:
-
A digital inventory (2009-2015) is available in Polish, including online. The following databases were created on the basis of the documents:
personal questionnaires of people referred to deportation from Kraków - reference number 218/34 (19,901 records);
identity documents (ausweis) of Kraków residents - reference number 218/35 (364 records);
registration cards of people applying to stay in the Krakow ghetto - reference number 218/33 (16,189 records);
copies of identity documents (kenkarts) of persons referred for deportation from Kraków - reference number 218/37 (10912 records);
original identity cards with photos - reference number 218/78 (83 records).
There is also a website maintained by the JCC in Krakow, with databases compiled from the personal data of Kraków Jews: www.krakowjewishheritage.org.
- Yerusha Network member:
- The Taube Department of Jewish Studies of the University of Wrocław
- Author of the description:
- Monika Taras; The Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute; May 2020
