Przełożony Starszeństwa Żydów w Getcie Łódzkim

The collection documents all aspects of the fate of the Jews in the Łódź ghetto, because the administration of the Judenrat (Jewish Council) was very highly developed (it employed over 10,000 people) and generated vast quantities of documents, which, fortunately, have survived. The inventory to the Rumkowski Archive comprises an extensive preface that offers good insight into the ghetto offices, and a body of archives categorized by department and section. These materials will be described in greater detail in Part II of this Guide. Among them is a large collection of original contact sheets of photographs taken by Mordko Mendl Grossman and Henryk Ross, photographers officially employed by the Judenrat. Aside from the strictly official documentation, there is also a set of Biuletyny Kroniki Codziennej (Daily Chronicle Bulletins, 1941-1944), commissioned by the Judenrat, as well as literary reportage articles, a full set of circulars and public announcements, the texts of Chaim Rumkowski’s speeches, the residence registration ledgers for ghetto residents, lists of the Jews from Western Europe resettled to Litzmannstadt, around 1,500 labour record books, various graphic materials produced by the Department of Statistics, transport lists of Jews sent to the death camp in Chełmno nad Nerem, and many other things.