Lodz, Poland, junction of Zgierska street and Limanowskiego street. The former headquarters of Gestapo and German authorities of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto (Gettoverwaltung). During the German occupation old part of Lodz - Baluty - was turned into enclosured and cut off Jewish quarter being in fact a small and independent slave labour camp. Most of the buildings of Litzmannstadt Ghetto remained and Baluty is still one of the poorest part of the city.
Camera: Samsung GX 10, lens Sigma 24-70mm F/1:2.8 EX DG, HDR
This picture is dark, creepy and frightening, like the building was during the German occupation (I think). Great photo!!
whole area is like that, old tenants in the condition the same like almost 70 years ago. Every old building has its own tragic history bounded to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto.
Hello:
Interesting blog
Nice to meet U
Thanks
Rafael
I can see why you chose to make it so dark. What is the building used for now?
The ground floor used to be a chemist shop, before the 2nd World War, for the first couple of months of German occupation - until the area was turned into ghetto. The Chemist shop was closed down just a few years ago. Upper floors are apartments today, which is a bit creepy - especially that those rooms used to be places of brutal tortures and a headquarters of the war criminal - Hans Biebow (after the war he was sentenced to death and executed at the market square opposite to that building). Part of the ground floor host a tattoo salon.
I was sent from Vienna to the Ghetto Litzmannstadt on10/23/1941 with my mother and father and deported from there to Czenstochau in 1943. The Kripo Office was feared and a Jew who walked in came out in shrouds or a bag
no other comment except the Ghetto Lodz was Dante’s inferno
Halo Siegfired,
Thank you for your comment. I have heard about things that happened in the Krippo Office. I have a photo of the Rote Haus as well, it is here: http://www.kozerawski.com/2008/06/28/rote-haus/
I am currently translating a copy of a letter dated 19 Feb 1942 sent from
Gestpo, Staatspolizeileitstelle - Posen
to the
Gestapo,
Stadtpolizeistelle Litzmannstadt, Reg. Rat Dr. Schefs -o.V.i.A
Litzmannstadt
Gardestrasse 1-7
in connection with the escape of three English officers from STALAG XXI. D in Posen who escaped via Litzmannstadt, Warsaw, Krakau, Kaschau, Budapest, Belgrade, Jagodina to Pirot where they wanted to escape via Sofia and Svilangrad to Turkey
further to my last:
One of these officers remained in Warsaw for nearly a year and was eventually recaptured and sent to Colditz where he survived the remainder of the War and rejoined the British Army to have a distinguished career.
The other two officers where recaptured as they were crossing the border at the “neubulgarischen Stadt” Pirot.
I would be interested in more information of the Staatspolizeistelle Litzmannstadt and SS-Sturmbannführer Reg.Rat Dr. Schefe if you know.
The letter to Schefe from the Leitstelle in Posen was signed by a person by the name of Stossberg
Once I know more I would be happy to let you have a copy of the origional and the translation
Regards
JD Merveldt
hey cool photo! The sky looks incredible.
Thank you for the photograph of my father´s childhood home. You saved me the trouble of visiting Poland just to satisfy my curiosity.
It was my Grand Fathers home-factory. My grand mother and father bought it in 1923 and in 1927 my father was born there. His 2 sister’s as well. The two floor´s upstair´s were originaly a shirt factory my Grand Father made. It was the first ¨pre made¨manufactured shirt company in all of Europe.
My grand Father did very well financialy and employed many local residents. When the Nazi´s entered Lodz, they confiscated the property, relocated my Father´s family and later murdered all my father´s family. He was the only surviver.
I was born in Lodz Dec. 1940. My parents were ethnic Germans ( Volksdeutsche ) also born in Poland. Both My parents are dead, but I remember where we lived, and how we fled Poland to West Germany, and in 1956 immigrated to the US. I spent 1 or 2 weeks in a Konzentrazionslager but have no horrific memories. I was 5 or 6. I did however for many years have unusual dreams of filthy toilets and urinals and showers, and had no idea where these dreams came from until I watched a show on PBS that mentioned the deliberate filth created by the Nazies to show how filthy Jews were. My fathers name was Otto and my mother’s Frieda. I was never told that there was a Jewish Ghetto in Lodz. would love to hear from anyone who might have known my family. Regards, Bill Kother.
My father, now deceased, gave me a WWII german pistol which he obtained while serving in Europe during the war. It is a P model 37 which I have learned was manufactured in Hungary in 1941. The weapon was supposedly obtained from a captured German officer.
The holster contains the following identification:
“K.G.R. Dr Schefe”
Could this be the same Dr Schefe mentioned here. If so, do we know if, when and where he was captured? What do the initials K.G.R. stand for?
Thank you.
George
A few corrections from a person who was in Lodz-ghetto from the beginning till the end at the age from 13-18. The Gestapo building was close to Baluter Ring where the German and Jewish administration was located. The Gestapo members, devoted and trained Nazis took part in every deportation to death camps and also controlled the German administrators, infamous Biebow and the Jewish leaders of the ghetto. I disagree strongly with your description of the ghetto” as small and INDEPENDENT (!)slave labor camp. A ghetto that had at the beginning over 200.000 inhabitants could hardly be called “small.” As a matter of fact it was the second biggest ghetto in Europe, after Warsaw-Ghetto. The Nazis serving in Gestapo were devoid of any humanity although a few of them were lawyers.