At the end of August, Łódź once again commemorates the city’s residents as well as Jews from Poland and other European countries who were imprisoned in the Łódź Ghetto. The symbolic date of its liquidation is 29 August. On that day in 1944, the final transports departed from Radegast Station for Auschwitz-Birkenau. In total, more than 200,000 people passed through the ghetto.
In 2026, the main commemorations marking the 82nd anniversary of the liquidation of the ghetto will exceptionally take place on 28 August at 12 noon at Radegast Station. They are accompanied by an extensive programme of walks, meetings, exhibitions and educational events prepared by The Marek Edelman Dialogue Center in Łódź. The full programme of commemorative events is available on the Dialogue Centre’s website.
Research on the Jewish Community of Łódź at the University of Lodz
The Philip Friedman Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Lodz has been operating since 2005. The unit was established in response to the need for research into the Jewish community whose members were among the most important builders and co-creators of Łódź. Initially, the Centre’s activities focused on the history of Łódź Jews from the late nineteenth century, through the early twentieth century, to the interwar period, the time of that community’s greatest development. As cooperation was established with partners from, among other countries, Germany and Israel, the scope of research expanded to include Holocaust studies. The Centre is currently headed by Dr Adam Sitarek, who, in the latest episode of the “Nauka Inspiruje” [Science Inspires] podcast, speaks, among other things, about the stories inscribed in the urban space of Łódź and how they can be interpreted.
Archives Full of Unknown Stories
Łódź occupies a unique position on the map of research into the history of the Second World War and the Holocaust. The city was not destroyed to the same extent as Warsaw, which means that an enormous number of documents, plans, photographs and official records have survived. Some of them have not been examined since the 1970s, while others, as Dr Adam Sitarek explains, have not been looked at since they were first deposited in archives.
Gestapo files are also still being declassified. These contain information on investigations, sentences, smuggling between the Reichsgau Wartheland and the General Government, as well as illegal contacts with residents of the ghetto. Such materials make it possible to uncover previously unknown facts not only about the history of Łódź Jews but also about the everyday social and cultural life of the occupied city.
Working with these sources requires knowledge of Russian, German, Polish and Yiddish. Researchers must also contend with handwritten records, varying spellings of surnames and ambiguous terminology. As a result, digital tools are playing an increasingly important role, helping scholars read, organise, compare and share vast collections of data.
A City Written in Many Layers
One of the most significant recent projects undertaken by the University of Lodz’s Philip Friedman Centre for Jewish Studies is “Topografia pamięci żydowskiej Łodzi” [Topography of Jewish Memory in Lodz]. Researchers are mapping stories connected with specific houses, schools, streets and courtyards onto a contemporary map of the city. They combine documents, photographs, pre-war plans, archaeological research findings and testimonies of former residents.
Approximately 60 audio cassette recordings of interviews conducted by Paweł Spodenkiewicz in the early 1990s with survivors of the Łódź Ghetto constitute a particularly valuable source. These recordings contain hundreds of hours of stories about families, neighbours, schools, marketplaces, first loves and everyday conflicts. They make it possible to reconstruct a world that is no longer visible in the cityscape, even though many of the buildings described in these accounts still exist.
Researchers also compare these testimonies with archaeological discoveries. One example is the remains of a Jewish mikveh uncovered near Staromiejski Park. Interviewees recorded several decades earlier had spoken about this location, and its appearance was known from historical maps and photographs. Dr Sitarek describes the extraordinary experience of seeing a place previously known only through written and oral sources, maps and documents suddenly emerge from beneath layers of earth and become visible in reality. For a historian, it is an experience comparable to discovering a priceless treasure.
From a Chronicle to a Digital Lexicon
The interview also explores other projects carried out by the Centre, including the five-volume “Kronika getta łódzkiego” [Chronicle of the Łódź Ghetto] and the “Leksykon getta łódzkiego” [Lexicon of the Łódź Ghetto].
The history of the lexicon is particularly remarkable because it began during the war itself. In 1943, writers, journalists and archivists imprisoned in the ghetto planned to create more than 1,300 entries describing its residents, language and everyday life. Before the liquidation of the ghetto, they succeeded in preparing around 350 entries. Contemporary researchers decided to continue their work, expanding the collection with new biographies, events and information derived from later research.
Each entry represents the story of a real person. Researchers were often assisted by contacts with survivors or their descendants, enabling them to reconstruct the lives of individuals for whom almost no other trace had survived. In this way, the project not only broadens historical knowledge but also restores names, surnames and individual identities to the victims.
Let Us Record Memory Before It Disappears
Asked how people can begin to learn about the history of Łódź, or of the place where they live, in order to better understand it, Dr Adam Sitarek encourages them to record conversations with their parents and grandparents. The stories of ordinary people, their work, childhood, family relationships and the places to which they were connected, may one day become invaluable testimonies to the life of a city.
The anniversary of the liquidation of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto reminds us that memory requires not only commemorative ceremonies but also the patient search for sources, their preservation and their transmission to future generations. We encourage you to listen to the podcast and to view Łódź as a multi-layered archive in which untold stories can still be discovered.
Edit: Michał Gruda (Centre for External Relations)
