Die Enzyklopädie des Gettos Lodz / Litzmannstadt

The persecution of the European Jews as experienced and remembered history - A central source from the context of the "Chronicle of the Lodz / Litzmannstadt Ghetto". Winter 1943: The ghetto in Lodz / Litzmannstadt has existed for more than three and a half years, the people are desperate, starving and have to do forced labour for the Germans. Tens of thousands have already perished in this "creperie corner of Europe" (Oskar Rosenfeld), tens of thousands have been murdered in the extermination camp. The Germans' intention to deport and kill the remaining 80,000 people as well can hardly be overlooked. In this situation, the employees in the "Archive of the Jewish Elder" come up with a tremendous plan: they want to pass on their experiences in an encyclopaedia. It is an attempt at a "lexical cultural history of the Litzmannstadt ghetto" (Oskar Rosenfeld), which aims to record persons, institutions, but above all the special language of this forced community. This first edition of this important source presents all surviving entries in their original language and German translation. The texts are extensively annotated and contextualised. In this way it becomes clear how the authors of the encyclopaedia attempted to contrast the shattered ghetto world with a humane design.