Mendel Grossman
Encyclopedia
Mendel Grossman was born in 1913. He was a Jew, and a Hasid in Lodz
during the Holocaust. The Nazis put him in the Łódź Ghetto in 1939; there he found work as a photographer, making identification cards and documenting the work that his fellow inmates did in the ghetto. The Ghetto Government thought that these photographs would convince the Nazis to treat them better because they were diligent. Grossman also hid a camera in his coat during the day and took photographs of the living conditions of the ghetto. He took these photographs at great risk to his life, not only because the Gestapo
suspected him, but also because of his weak heart. Some of his photographs assisted people to identify the graves of their loved ones. Others are now well known documentation of the Holocaust. Grossman distributed many of his photographs; those he was unable to distribute, he hid. He was eventually deported to a labor camp in Koenigs Wusterhausen; he later died during a forced death march, still holding on to his camera.
Grossman's sister found some of his hidden photographs and took them to Israel, but they were mostly lost in the Israeli war of Independence. Other photos taken by Grossman were found by one of his friends, Nahman Zonabend; these photographs are now located in the Museum of Holocaust and Resistance at the Ghetto Fighters House in Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot, Israel, as well as Yad Vashem
in Jerusalem.
Lódz
Łódź is the third-largest city in Poland. Located in the central part of the country, it had a population of 742,387 in December 2009. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is approximately south-west of Warsaw...
during the Holocaust. The Nazis put him in the Łódź Ghetto in 1939; there he found work as a photographer, making identification cards and documenting the work that his fellow inmates did in the ghetto. The Ghetto Government thought that these photographs would convince the Nazis to treat them better because they were diligent. Grossman also hid a camera in his coat during the day and took photographs of the living conditions of the ghetto. He took these photographs at great risk to his life, not only because the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
suspected him, but also because of his weak heart. Some of his photographs assisted people to identify the graves of their loved ones. Others are now well known documentation of the Holocaust. Grossman distributed many of his photographs; those he was unable to distribute, he hid. He was eventually deported to a labor camp in Koenigs Wusterhausen; he later died during a forced death march, still holding on to his camera.
Grossman's sister found some of his hidden photographs and took them to Israel, but they were mostly lost in the Israeli war of Independence. Other photos taken by Grossman were found by one of his friends, Nahman Zonabend; these photographs are now located in the Museum of Holocaust and Resistance at the Ghetto Fighters House in Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot, Israel, as well as Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
in Jerusalem.
External links
- Smith Frank Dabba (Author), Grossman Mendel (Photographer) (2008). My Secret Camera: Life in the Lodz Ghetto, Frances Lincoln Children's Books.
- http://www1.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%206319.pdf