Jakob and Zofia Dymant papers

Document | Digitized | Accession Number: 1994.A.0455.2

Overview

Description: The Jakob and Zofia Dymant papers document Jakob Dymant’s escape from Poland during the Holocaust and survival in Japan, China, and India; Zofia Dymant’s wartime work for Walther C. Többens in Warsaw under her Christian alias; and the Christian aliases of some of Zofia’s relatives. Jakob Dymant records include identification papers, receipts, permits, immigration records, and an immunization certificate documenting his prewar life in Warsaw and escape to Vilna (Vilnius, Lithuania) and then, with a Chiune Sugihara visa, to Japan, China, and India. This folder also includes a postcard Dymant sent from Bombay (Mumbai) seeking information about his family. The postcard was returned to him with the indication that the Warsaw address had been destroyed by fire. Zofia Dymant’s document is a registration card under her alias Zofie Sporzynska, documenting her meat allocation as a worker at the Walther C. Többens factory. Dzialoszynski family records include a forged birth certificate, apartment claim document, Warsaw residential documents, and a medical certificate documenting Zofia’s aunt, uncle, and cousin (Fela, Ludwik, and Janino Dzialoszynski) under their aliases Helena, Feliks, and Janino Sporzynski.
Date: inclusive: circa 1939-1946
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Zofia Dymant
Collection Creator: Jakob Dymant
Zofia Dymant
Biography: Jakob Dymant (Jan, 1914-1986) was born on May 15, 1914 in Brzeziny, Poland to Chana and Uryn Hersz Dymant. He completed his law studies in Warsaw shortly before the start of World War II and fled Warsaw on September 5, 1939. He arrived in Vilna (Vilnius, Lithuania) on October 23, 1939. He learned that visas were being issued in Kovno (Kaunas), and he obtained a Curaçao visa from the Dutch Consulate on August 1, 1940 and a Sugihara visa (number 884) on August 2, 1940. He traveled from there to Kobe, Japan, arriving on February 13, 1941. Though his Japanese permit was only valid until March 16, 1941, he stayed several months in Japan and received a visa for Burma with the help of Poland's ambassador Tadeusz Romer. He traveled to Shanghai, received inoculations against cholera, typhoid and smallpox, and then proceeded to Burma. He worked for six months for an English company making electrical appliances even though he knew no English. In early 1942 Japanese forces attacked Burma, and Jakob fled to Kolkata and Mumbai, India. He immigrated to the United States in 1946, sailing from Alexandria, Egypt, aboard the SS President Taft. He settled in New York, married Zofia Benet Dzialoszynska in 1948, and had two children.

Zofia Dymant (Sara Benet) was born in 1923 in Brzeziny, Poland. In 1940, the Gestapo interned her in the ghetto in Tomaszów, Poland. Zofia fled the ghetto with false identification papers in the name Zofia Sporzynska and went to Warsaw, Poland. During the Warsaw Uprising in October 1944, Germans captured and sent Zofia to camps in Wola, Poland, and later Namslau, Germany. The Soviet Army liberated the camp in 1945. Zofia emigrated to Sweden and later, in 1948, to the United States.

Physical Details

Language: Polish German Japanese Lithuanian English
Extent: 3 folders
System of Arrangement: The Jakob and Zofia Dymant papers are arranged as a single series.

Rights & Restrictions

Conditions on Access: There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
Conditions on Use: Material(s) in this collection may be protected by copyright and/or related rights. You do not require further permission from the Museum to use this material. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.

Keywords & Subjects

Topical Term: Jews--Poland--Brzeziny. Jews--Poland--Warsaw. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Jewish refugees--Lithuania--Vilnius. Jewish refugees--Japan--Kobe. Jewish refugees--China--Shanghai. Jewish refugees--India--Mumbai.
Geographic Name: Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945. Warsaw (Poland) Vilnius (Lithuania) Kobe (Japan) Shanghai (China) Mumbai (India)
Personal Name: Dymant, Jakob (Jan), 1914-1986. Dymant, Zofia, 1923-2010. Dzialoszynski, Ludwik. Dzialoszynska, Fela. Dzialoszynski, Janino. Sugihara, Chiune, 1900-1986.

Administrative Notes

Holder of Originals: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: Zofia Dymant donated the Jakob and Zofia Dymant papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1994 and 2001. Accessions formerly cataloged as 1994.A.0455 and 2001.283.1 have been incorporated into this collection.
Related Materials: Legacy Accession Number: 1994.A.0455
Legacy Accession Number: 2001.283
Primary Number: 1994.A.0455.2

Record last modified:: 2023-03-30 15:17:29
This page:: http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn709029

Additional Resources

Finding Aid (English)

Download & Licensing

In-Person Research

Available for Research
Plan a Research Visit
Request in Shapell Center Reading Room
Bowie, MD

Contact Us

Give Feedback

Also in Jakob and Zofia Dymant collection

The Jakob and Zofia Dymant papers document Jakob Dymant’s escape from Poland during the Holocaust and survival in Japan, China, and India; Zofia Dymant’s wartime work for Walther C. Többens in Warsaw under her Christian alias; and the Christian aliases of some of Zofia’s relatives. Jakob Dymant records include identification papers, receipts, permits, immigration records, and an immunization certificate documenting his prewar life in Warsaw and escape to Vilna and then, with a Chiune Sugihara visa, to Japan, China, and India. This folder also includes a postcard Dymant sent from Bombay seeking information about his family. The postcard was returned to him with the indication that the Warsaw address had been destroyed by fire. The Zofia Dymant document is a registration card under her alias Zofie Sporzynska, documenting her meat allocation as a worker at the Walther C. Többens factory. Dzialoszynski family records include a forged birth certificate, apartment claim document, Warsaw residential documents, and a medical certificate documenting Zofia’s aunt, uncle, and cousin (Fela, Ludwik, and Janino Dzialoszynski) under their aliases Helena, Feliks, and Janino Sporzynski. The collection also consists of one decorative Polish seal, one match case, two cigarette cases, one suitcase, two souvenir stamp books and a dictionary.

Date: 1939-1946