Polish archaeologists have begun searching for a missing Jewish archive chronicling the final days of life in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943. AP reports that digging started on Wednesday on the premises of the Chinese Embassy in search of the third part of the so-called Ringelblum Archive.
Named after Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum, organizer of the underground ghetto archives and author of "Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto," the archive is a wealth of information on daily events and conditions in the ghetto in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. A spokesperson for the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw said that the archive is believed to include thousands of documents, drawings, diaries and underground newspapers dating from February to April 1943. Two earlier parts of the archive, comprising 30,000 documents, were recovered in 1946 and 1950, and belong to the
Institute, but a search at that time for the third part proved unsuccessful. The spokesperson told AP that the archive has been put on the UNESCO list of world's most valuable documents.
The current digging effort is a result of information provided by Marek Edelman, the only surviving commander of the April 1943 uprising against the Nazis, showing that the papers may be buried on the premises of what is now the Chinese Embassy in the city. The building was built on what had been the edge of the wartime ghetto, and the Polish government helped obtain Chinese permission to dig there. The search, supervised by the Jewish Institute, is financed by the U.S.-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
At its peak in the spring of 1941, some 450,000 Jews were crammed into the ghetto's 740 acres (1.15 square miles). In the summer of 1942, about 300,000 Jews were deported from Warsaw to the Treblinka death camp, and many others died of starvation. A group of mostly young people, led by 23-year-old Mordechai Anielewicz (after whom Kibbutz Yad Mordechai is named), formed the Jewish Fighting Organization, and began to resist the Germans.
In January 1943, the fighters fired upon German troops as they tried to round up another group of inhabitants for deportation. After a few days, the troops retreated, inspiring the ghetto fighters to prepare for future resistance. On April 19, the Germans moved to totally liquidate the ghetto and the 60,000 Jews who remained. The ghetto fighters were able to hold out for nearly a month, but on May 16, 1943, the revolt ended. The Germans captured more than 56,000 Jews; they shot 7,000, and deported the rest to the gas chambers.
Named after Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum, organizer of the underground ghetto archives and author of "Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto," the archive is a wealth of information on daily events and conditions in the ghetto in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. A spokesperson for the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw said that the archive is believed to include thousands of documents, drawings, diaries and underground newspapers dating from February to April 1943. Two earlier parts of the archive, comprising 30,000 documents, were recovered in 1946 and 1950, and belong to the
Institute, but a search at that time for the third part proved unsuccessful. The spokesperson told AP that the archive has been put on the UNESCO list of world's most valuable documents.
The current digging effort is a result of information provided by Marek Edelman, the only surviving commander of the April 1943 uprising against the Nazis, showing that the papers may be buried on the premises of what is now the Chinese Embassy in the city. The building was built on what had been the edge of the wartime ghetto, and the Polish government helped obtain Chinese permission to dig there. The search, supervised by the Jewish Institute, is financed by the U.S.-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
At its peak in the spring of 1941, some 450,000 Jews were crammed into the ghetto's 740 acres (1.15 square miles). In the summer of 1942, about 300,000 Jews were deported from Warsaw to the Treblinka death camp, and many others died of starvation. A group of mostly young people, led by 23-year-old Mordechai Anielewicz (after whom Kibbutz Yad Mordechai is named), formed the Jewish Fighting Organization, and began to resist the Germans.
In January 1943, the fighters fired upon German troops as they tried to round up another group of inhabitants for deportation. After a few days, the troops retreated, inspiring the ghetto fighters to prepare for future resistance. On April 19, the Germans moved to totally liquidate the ghetto and the 60,000 Jews who remained. The ghetto fighters were able to hold out for nearly a month, but on May 16, 1943, the revolt ended. The Germans captured more than 56,000 Jews; they shot 7,000, and deported the rest to the gas chambers.