donbarb

All of my father's family lived in Lodz prior to WWII. All but he died in the ghetto or the camps. I have some addresses from correspondence in the late '30s and early '40s and need resource for finding places and other possible records (births, deaths, marriages, etc.). I am planning a trip to Poland in early October, 2006.

Cimbrone

I would guess that the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington might be able to help. You might also try Google-ing "Poland Jewish Organizations" and "Lodz Ghetto Survivors". Basically, just be creative. In this way, you may find those associations and institutions that can help you get the information you need. Your local synagogue should be able to help you out as well.

LoveItaly

Hello donbarb, another tragic story. I had a friend who had eleven of his aunts and uncles killed also along with lots of cousins. Only his father managed to live. They too were from Poland. I have lost touch with him as he moved to Canada.

Is there any chance that the synagoge(s) in Lodz would have a record of the various events or were all the records destroyed?

Best wishes to you with this project.

FauxSteMarie

You need to join a Jewish genealogical society. Most major US cities have organizations. People active in the field will be able to help you. I would also check jewishgen.com. I think that is the name of the site. There are lots of people working on similar questions.

P_M

I wish I had something useful to add, but I would like to wish you well with your search. You are doing a great honor to your lost relatives.

shellio

http://www.routestoroots.com/index.html

Good luck.

lucy_d

Hope this helps:
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org

Also, as suggested by another poster, the USHMM offers good resources.

I'm sure your trip will be meaningful.

zwho

Hi, If you want to contact me, I will post my email address here. Both of my parents were Holocaust survivors and in 2003 my family went to Poland to try to find "my roots". My parents passed away in 1999 and 2001, respectively. It was very important that I see where they came from and for my adult children to get some sort of idea of their history. We hired a researcher who was priceless to us. He could negotiate the various City Halls and bureaucrats, speak Polish and read Cyrillic. We found birth certificates and death certificates and city records about my great grandparents dating from the mid 1800's. We could not have found any of this on our own. We went to Auschwitz and my son videotaped everything we saw and went and it is a remarkable documentary. We drove through Lodz on the way to my Dad's town and saw a pretty unsettling site. The graffiti all over town consisted of spray painted Mogen Davids. When I asked Kristof, what gives, he explained that these Polish teens don't know a Star of David from Twinkle, Twinkle! They only know it's a negative icon. So lets say one gang writes their favorite soccer team on a wall. The other gang hates that particular team. They spray a Star of David over it. And so it goes, all over Lodz. Very strange. Every person we met who knew we were Jewish and looking for records was very helpful and respectful. We were treated like VIP's in some instances. None of this would have happened with out our researcher. His prices were very reasonable and I thought Poland was a wonderful place to visit, and I didn't expect to like it at all!

zwho

I'm topping this for you since I posted it late last night and it was down in the 100's this a.m.

Tess_Durberville

This “Holocaust/Shoah” website maintained by David M. Dickerson has assorted links which may be helpful in your search …. Such as archives & references, survivors, etc.
http://ddickerson.igc.org/holocaust.html

tower

DonBarb:

Start out with contacting the Chief Rabbi of today'sm Poland, Michael Shudrich. He will guide you to wherever you want to go and also recommend guides for the purpose. He is an American rabbi who has done remarkable things in Poland the past 20 years. Call the nearest Jewish Federation Council or the nearest JGS to get his e-mail and phone number in Warsaw ,and go from there. In 1993, he helped us find my wife's mother's house in Miedzerych which she had left at age 15 in 1927
..and he also set up a series of interviews throughout the country for my research project for one my published books.
Another contact would be my old friend , a Californian who resides most of the year in Warsaw and is very well connected therein...willing to help American visitors in any way he can. He heads up a large congregation. Write me for his Polish mobile phone number if you wish.

Stu T. [email protected]

tower

Don:

Here is a web site for Rabbi Shudrich et al:
and some good links, too.

http://www.szczuczyn.com/massietrip2.htm
h

Stu T.

donbarb

Thanks to all for your kind responses to our request. We will be following up on your suggestions. To zwho in particular, we would like your e-mail address or particulars on the researcher you used.

zwho

Hi donbarb, My email is [email protected]. I will send you his contact info when you email me. I don't want anyone to construe this as advertising. I found Krystof from a friends referral, but he is associated with a man named Stanley Diamond who started an internet searchable database called Jewish Records Indexing - Poland. They record Jewish vital records in Poland starting from the 19th century. It didn't do me any good, but may help you. But he helped me so much when we were in Poland. In 2003 he charged $150.00 the 1st day and then $100.00 each day after. We had a Mercedes van with a driver and we were responsible for their meals and lodging while they worked with us. As I said, very reasonable. The expensive part was paying for gasoline. Yipes!! Hope you don't have lots of driving. We did, and thats what cost us. This is probably one of the best and most important things I've done in my life. It was truly amazing to actually see the places my Mom and Dad had spoken about, (that still existed). The river by his house, the center he took boxing lessons, the Chicory factory that he thought made his town famous as a child. Even the ghetto where one of his sisters were shot dead for accepting bread from her non Jewish best friend,(they were both killed). My mom on the other hand was always a little vague about her life, but we saw the neighborhood where the Jewish shop owners lived and where she (most likely) grew up, and the conservatory where she studied music. I can only tell you, that not having grandparents or any touchstones from their past made me feel like I just hatched, no history except a horrible, horrible war and its memories. Seeing where (I) came from, seeing records with their parents names, (my) grand and great grandparents, bittersweet, but sweet non the less! I hope however you do this trip, its as meaningful and wonderful for you.

Eli

Don & Barb,
The right place to look for birth records is the original registry office (don't you think?). It's my experience which is talking (although my experience was at a different province). Here is the link of all the registry offices in Poland: http://www.usc.pl/bazausc.php
Enter "lodz" under 'miasto' and press szukaj (which means 'search'). If you know the birth place of your folks, one of these offices should have a record. They are obliged to keep it for 100 years. I notice that none of the Lodz offices has an email address, but they proudly display their street address and phone number...