Josef Zorski photograph collection

Zygmunt Zorski was born on February 2, 1915 in Sosnowiec, Poland. Zygmunt, his two sisters, Lusia and Mietka, and his brother, Tadeusz, lived with their parents on Modrzejewska Street in Sosnowiec. Zygmunt’s father, Jan Jankel Zorski, was a photographer and his photo-studio was well known in town. Zygmunt’s mother, Roza Jasny Zorski, was a housewife. Jan Jankel’s parents were deported in August 1943 to the Auschwitz where they perished. Zygmunt and his two sisters escaped the Sosnowiec ghetto during its liquidation in August 1943. They found refuge in the basement of Florentyna and Franciszek Nowak. Florentyna Nowak, a Polish woman, worked in the Zorski photo-studio before the war. The Nowaks hid the three Zorski siblings until liberation in January 1945. Zygmut married Helena Szechter and they had a son, Josef. Helena Szechter Zorski was born on March 21, 1920 in Krakow. She was the daughter of Jozef and Berta Szechter. Helena’s parents were shot and killed in the Brzesko Nowe ghetto. Helena had six siblings: Franka, law student at the Jagiellonian University, survived Ravensbrueck concentration camp; Filip who survived the war; Bronia who survived slave labor camp in Germany; Marysia and Fela (later Felicja Karay), together with Helena, survived Płaszóow concentration camp; Skarżysko Kamienna concentration camp and a slave labor in HASAG factory in Leipzig, Germany. Janka Szechter, Helena’s aunt, perished. The collection consists of original photographs and copy print from 1917 to 1941 depicting the Zorski family in Poland. Three photographs were taken in Sosnowiec, Poland and three copy prints depict a Hachshara outing in Krakow, Poland, sponsored by B'nei Akiba, a religious Zionist youth organization.