Caution to the reader, this article contains references to the Holocaust, and explanations which are unpleasant. References or explanations are meant in respect to the victims.
Today at Kriegsberichter 41, the collected editors respectfully proffer a marking of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, on this, the 78th anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz.
We have, in the collection, a number of images from the Holocaust, and we will gradually find time to give them the respectful attention due. This particular image we believe to be very early in the War, and we will discus it further in the second half of this Post. But firstly we would like to mention some background and associated history.
Background
Holocaust Memorial Day (UK), is the United Kingdom designation for the overall global remembrance of this awful period of world history. The creation of an “International Holocaust Remembrance Day” was designated by the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 60/7 on 1 November 2005. The resolution came after a special session was held earlier that year on 24 January to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps and the end of the Holocaust. The day remembers the killing of over Six Million Jews, two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population, and millions of others by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.
The Statistics of the Genocide
Of the 6,636,235*, approximately 1.5 Million were children. It is estimated that in total, the wider genocide that we collectively call the Holocaust (and Jews call the Shoah, more on that below), was previously thought to have claimed the lives of approximately 10.5 Million people, but more recent assessments suggest that it was approximately 16.5 Million** The reason for the lack of specifics is that the Soviet Genocides were not as well recorded as those directly killed via Concentration/Slave Labour/Extermination Camps; where the Totenkopfverbände & Concentration Camp Staff kept meticulous records, as sickening as their content was, it has aided the study of the impact of the Genocides.
Overall, the largest groups were the 6.6 Million Jews, 6 Million Soviet Civilians, 3 Million Soviet PoWs, and 1.3 Million Non-Jewish Polish civilians. But the Sinti and Roma communities ( What we might collectively call “Gypsies”, and the Germans “Zigeuner”, which is Pejorative) who were deemed “asocial”/”morally degenerate”/”Habitually Criminal” by the NSDAP, accounted for 250,000-500,000, and similarly 312,000 Serbs fell victim to extermination on the grounds of their ethnicity. Notable, but smaller representations include (approximately) over 70,000 Habitual (but non-Capital Offences) Criminals [Disruptive to NSDAP & Society], 1900 Jehovah’s Witnesses [Uncooperative to NSDAP] circa 100-2000 Homosexuals and an unknown amount of “Political” victims, including Spaniards who were anti-fascist, and German Communists, Pacifists, etc.
Poland, as you see, was particularly effected by the Holocaust, and bore host to the majority of the Extermination Camps. They lost 90% of their Jewish Population, which whilst similar percentages per country were seen, Poland’s Jews accounted for just over 50% of the total Jewish victims, at circa. 3 Million.
Global Jewish Remembrance Today
As a large group of holocaust victims, and the subject of our photo, it is worth noting that the Jewish community take the view that the Holocaust is “everyone” and their part is referred to as The Shoah (from the Hebrew word שואה (“catastrophe”) The State of Israel (where many survivors reside) have their Memorial day - Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah (Hebrew: יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה, literally: 'Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day'), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah (יום השואה) [Shoah Day]; In Israel, it is a national memorial day. The first official commemorations took place in 1951, and the observance of the day was anchored in a law passed by the Knesset in 1959. It is held on the 27th of Nisan (which falls in April or May), unless the 27th would be adjacent to the Jewish Sabbath, in which case the date is shifted by a day. This year will fall on Tuesday, 18th April 2023 [ Which is 27 Nisan 5783 by the Hebrew Calendar].
The Photograph We Bring to you, Today
The photograph here shows a scene, which at first glance appears to be a typical Judaica* Scene, some men and carts in the square of the Shtetl* . It is, however, in fact a “stolen snap-shot” at the very beginning stages of the disenfranchisement of the Jews in the area. You can clearly see here the four men on the lower left of the image, sitting on and stood around a handcart, are wearing the Jewish Identification Armbands of White with a Blue Star of David (Hebrew: מָגֵן דָּוִד, Romanised: Magen David, lit. 'Shield of David'). It was compulsory for all Jews to recognisable by either a Yellow Star attached (in most countries) but in Poland it was more common to see a white armband.
The person on the Handcart shows very clearly the armband in all its detail. Collectively they stand, likely discussing about news and trade within the area. It is also notable that seen with his back to the photograph, seen dressed in dark clothing with a flat hat, an older man also notable wearing an armband could possibly be a elder of the community or even possibly a Rabbi.
Located on the right side of the photograph we can see Horse and carts (Forbidden to Jews) and some persons queuing in front, one with a Wooden crate with what appears to be Swedes or Turnips. It is likely that this is some kind of Market Day, where the Handcart users are waiting to buy produce to feed families, potentially already enclosed in the Ghetto. We believe this is actually Łódź, Poland. Although the sign on the building is very hard to read, even in person but it is suggested from what can be made out that it is a small business that appears to be a restaurant as written on the side of the door.
This photograph being historically important showing a rare glimpse of the Jews in Poland during the Holocaust, as seen here in this market square scene. Holocaust related photographs are very rare and its a honour and with respect that we share this photograph on this Memorial day.
We Will Never Forget.
With Special thanks to Simon Tierney for his extensive knowledge and input to this. Below we detail some terms and references for further reading:
***Judaica [plural noun] - things pertaining to Jewish life and customs, especially when of a historical, literary, or artistic nature, as books or ritual objects.
****A shtetl or shtetel [Yiddish: שטעטל, romanized: shtetl] (singular); is a Yiddish term for the small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish populations which existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The term is used in the contexts of peculiarities of former East European Jewish societies as islands within the surrounding non-Jewish populace, and bears certain socio-economic and cultural connotations.
Just over 1 week later, and this article is to be re-published in a Professional Journal, and has been put onto the list of a Major Holocaust CHarity. We at KB41 have been delighted with the response, which has been quiet, respectful, remembrance.