This letter about Jewish cultural activity in the Polish ghettos was written by Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum. Date unknown, probably early 1943.
Dear Friends:
We write at a time when 95 per cent of Polish Jewry has been wiped out, wiped out under savage torture, in the gas chambers and charnel houses of Treblinka, Sobibor, Chelmno, and Oshpitzin [Auschwitz] or in the countless liquidations in the camps and ghettos. The fate of our people now painfully rotting in the concentration camps is similarly predetermined.
Perhaps a handful of Jews will survive to live a precarious existence in the Aryan sections of the cities or in the forest, hunted like beasts. It is gravely doubtful that any of us, the communal leaders, will survive the war, working under extremely hazardous conditions as we do.
When Polish Jews fell under the cruel yoke of the Nazis, the independent Jewish communal leadership began its widespread, far-reaching work, dedicated to self-help and resistance. With the active assistance of the “Joint,” a colossal network of social welfare agencies arose in Warsaw and the hinterlands under the leadership of Z.H.T.O.S. [Society for Jewish Social Welfare], Centos [Central Shelter for Children and Orphans] and T.O.Z. [Society to Guard the Health of Jewish Population]. O.R.T., too, was active. With the help of these organizations and their committees, tens of thousands were able to prolong their lives. The work was kept up to the last, as long as the Jewish community showed a spark of life. Political parties and ideological groups were enabled to conduct their conspiratorial work in secrecy, and cultural activities were shielded.
The watchword of the Jewish social worker was, “Live and die with honor,” a motto we endeavored to keep in the ghettos. It found its expression in the multi-faceted cultural program that grew despite the terror, hunger, and deprivation. It grew until the very moment of the martyrdom of Polish Jewry.
As soon as the Warsaw Ghetto was sealed off, a subterranean organization, Yikor [Yiddish Cultural Organization] was established to conduct a wide program in Jewish culture. The program included scientific lectures, celebrations to honor Peretz, Sholom Aleichem, Mendele, Borochov and others, and projects in art and literature. The prime mover of Yikor was the young economist Menachem Linder, who was killed in 1942.
Under the mantle of Centos kitchens and children’s homes there sprang up a network of underground schools representing varying shades of opinion: Cisho, Tarbuth, Schulkult, Yavneh, Chorev, Beth Yankov and others. The secular schools were taught in Yiddish. These schools were established through the work of Shachna Zagan and Sonia Novogrudski, both of whom died at Treblinka.
A furtive central Jewish archive was formed under the deceptive title, “Society for Enjoyment of the Sabbath,” by Dr. Emmanuel Ringelblum, who, in collaboration with others from the text gathered material and documents concerning the martyrdom of the Polish Jews. Thanks to the efforts of a large staff, about twenty trunkfuls of documents, diaries, photographs, remembrances, and reports were collected. The material was buried in…, which even we could not enter.
Most of the material sent abroad comes from the archive. We gave the world the most accurate information about the greatest crime in history. We are continuing our work on the archive, regardless of circumstances.
In 1941 and 1942 we were in contact with…in Vilna, who, under German control, managed to coordinate and conceal a good portion of the Y.I.V.O. documents. Today there are no Jews in Vilna. This once great center of Jewish culture and modern scientific research is in shambles.
But throughout almost the entire existence of the ghetto practically every Jewish organization participated in underground work, especially youth groups. We put out newspapers, magazines, and anthologies. The most active groups in this work were the Bund, which published the “Bulletin,” “Current Events,” “Voice of Youth,”“Nowa Mlodziez,” “Za Nasza I wasza Wolnosc”; Hashomer Hatzair, which published “Jutrznia Przewlosnie,”“Upsurge,” and a series of anthologies; Left Poale Zion, “Nasze Haslo,” “Proletarian Thought,” “Call of Youth,” “Vanguard”; Right Poale Zion, “Liberation”; Dror, “Dror Yedios,”“Hamadrich,” “G’vura,” “Pine”; the anti-Fascist bloc, “The Call”; the Communists,“Morning Freiheit,” and others. Some publications reached almost all other ghettos despite extreme difficulty in communications with Warsaw.
Centos, the central childcare organization, led much activity among the children. Led by…and the unforgettable Rosa Simchovich (who died of typhoid contracted from street waifs), teachers, educators and artists, Centos founded a central children’s library, a theater and classes in Yiddish language and literature. Thousands of adults joined in for “Children’s Month,” a program of cultural and artistic projects which provided a little happiness far from the hideous realism of their existence. Today there are no more Jewish children in Poland. Some 99 per cent were murdered by the Nazis.
The ghetto even had a symphonic orchestra, under Shimon Pullman. Its concerts and chamber music afforded us moments of relaxation and forgetfulness. Pullman and most of the other musicians perished at Treblinka along with violinist Ludwig Holzman. The young conductor Marion Noitich died at the Travniki camp.
A great deal of young talent was found in the ghetto. The daughter of a director of the
Warsaw Synagogue, Marisha Eisenstadt, was called the “Nightingale of the Ghetto.” She was killed during the liquidations. There were many choral groups, notably the children’s chorus directed by Feivishes, who died at the Poniatow camp. Other choirmasters were Gladstein and Sax, among those who died at Treblinka. Jewish painters and sculptors, living in frightful poverty, organized occasional exhibits. Felix Freidman was one of the best; but they all died at Treblinka.
Our activities continued in the concentration camps. In Ponyatow, Treblinka and other
camps we formed secret social societies and even arranged secret celebrations during holidays. Activity continued as long as there was life, in desperate struggling against the barbarism that imprisoned us.
When the deportations began, our organizations turned to battle. The youths showed the way in Zionist organizations and all branches of the labor movement. Armed resistance began in Poland. We defended the Warsaw Ghetto and fought at Bialystock. We destroyed parts of Treblinka and Sobibor. We fought At Torne, Bendin and Czestochowa. We proved to the world that we could fight back, and we died with dignity.
That’s what we wanted to tell you, dear friends. There are not many of us left. There are ten writers we would like you to attempt to contact through the Red Cross; we don’t know if they are still alive. Enclosed is a list of the dead who have helped in our work.
We doubt if we will see you again. Give our best to the builders of our culture, and to all who fight for human redemption.
Dr. E. Ringelblum
