Overview
- Description
- The collection includes three diaries written in the Łódź ghetto by Dawid Sierakowiak. The diary describes horrific conditions of the Łódź ghetto under the Nazi occupation and Chaim Rumkowski leadership. In his diaries Dawid chronicles political situations, social conditions, family relationships, and his physical and emotional deterioration. He writes in grief about the deportation of his mother; his father's death, disease, exhaustion and starvation; his little sister Nadzia's sufferings; and his own eventual loss of strength and decline towards death. The writing starts on Wednesday, June 28, 1939, and continues through Thursday, April 15, 1943. Dawid died on August 8, 1943, two weeks after his nineteen birthday and four months after the last of his surviving notebooks broke off with the recognition: "There is really no way out of this."
- Date
-
inclusive:
1939-1943
- Collection Creator
- Dawid Sierakowiak
- Biography
-
Dawid Sierakowiak (1924-1943) was born on July 25, 1924 in Łódź, Poland to Majlech Sierakowiak (?-1942?), a cabinetmaker, and Sura Sierakowiak (?-1942?). He had one sister, Nadzia (?-1944). Dawid was a student in a private Jewish Gymnasium in Łódź, where he was on a scholarship. In 1939 they were forced into the Łódź ghetto. In August 1943 Dawid died in the Łódź ghetto of tuberculosis. His mother was deported to Chełmno concentration camp and his sister was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944. They both perished. His father died in the ghetto.
Physical Details
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- This material can only be accessed in a Museum reading room or other on-campus viewing station. There are no additional access restrictions to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- Researchers may not copy more than 20 pages of the diary. Any use, other than fair use, must have the permission of the copyright stewards, Kamil Turowski and Alan Adelson.
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Jewish ghettos--Poland--Łódź. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives. World War, 1939-1945--Poland--Łódź.
- Geographic Name
- Łódź (Poland)
- Personal Name
- Sierakowiak, Dawid, 1924-1943.
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum acquired the Dawid Sierakowiak diary (numbers 1, 3, and 5) from Konrad Turowski's family in 1999.
- Funding Note
- The accessibility of this collection was made possible by the generous donors to our crowdfunded Save Their Stories campaign.
- Special Collection
-
Save Their Stories
- Record last modified:
- 2024-04-11 13:18:54
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn519987
Additional Resources
Download & Licensing
- See Rights and Restrictions
- Terms of Use
- This record is not digitized and cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
- Request 7 Days in Advance of Visit
- Plan a Research Visit
-
Request in Shapell Center Reading Room
Bowie, MD
