Lodz is a city in central Poland. In 1793, there were 11 Jews in the city. After 1820, under Russian rule, the city became an important industrial center, and as demonstrated by the following table from the Encyclopedia Judaica, the Jewish population grew rapidly until, it became the second largest in independent Poland.
|
Year |
Total Population |
Jewish Population |
Percentage of Jews |
| 1820 |
767 |
258 |
33.8 |
| 1823 |
799 |
288 |
36.0 |
| 1856 |
24,655 |
2,886 |
11.7 |
| 1897 |
310,302 |
98,676 |
31.8 |
| 1910 |
409,405 |
166,628 |
40.7 |
| 1921 |
452,623 |
156,155 |
34.5 |
| 1931 |
604,470 |
202,497 |
33.5 |
At the start of the war, there were about 233,000 Jews living in the city. Between the start of the war and the closing off of the ghetto on April 30, 1940, about 70,000 Jews had fled the city. Accordingly, about 164,000 Jews were in the ghetto at this date. In 1941-42, an additional 38,000 Jews (many from Germany and Austria) were moved to the ghetto. By 1942, there were about 90 factories "employing" about 77,000 Jews producing supplies for army and Nazi concerns. According to official statistics, over 43,000 persons died of starvation in the ghetto between 1940 and 1943. Direct extermination of the Jewish population began in 1942. From mid-January to September 1942 about 116,000 victims were sent to the death camp at Chelmno. This left about 89,000 residents in then the ghetto. The ghetto lingered on until final liquidation in June to August 1944. Most of these remaining Jews were sent to Auschwitz.
At the end of the war, there were only 870 Jewish survivors left in the city. By the end of 1946, over 50,000 Jews had returned to the city, most of which were Jews who survived the Holocaust in the Soviet Union. By 1957, only a few thousand Jews remained, and almost all of these left after the Six Day War in 1967.
The synagogue depicted in the postcard below (posted in 1916) is the Italianate Synagogue of Lodz. The synagogue was completed in 1888 and destroyed during the war. The second postcard (posted in 1917) includes the Italianate Synagogue.
The postcard below (posted in 1915) depicts the Talmud Torah (religious school) in Lodz.
Encyclopedia Judaica, CD Rom Edition, Keter Publishing
Mogilanski, The Ghetto Anthology, P. 161-69
Gutman, Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, P. 900-09
Copyright © 1998-99 Edward Victor
