First family-conversation

During my first exploring visit in February we had already a talk with a family who probably could be interested in participating in the project. We should look in 'the Kamienica' at Plac Kościelny nr. 4.

The Kamienica at Plac Kościelny number 4

This information came from Lucja Robak from 'The Friends of Stare Baluty' at Stary Rynek (number 1) who knows a lot about 'Stare Baluty', from recent and past...

She told about the project done by the inhabitants of this building in 2008. This kamienica had been build in 1894. The project, called "Połączyla nas historia", is a research after all traceable preceding occupants of the building over the years. Including themselves!
This project, initiated and in cooperation with pupils from a Lodz Lyceum (Liceum Ogólnokształcącego), was interesting in particular because (of course also here!) this building had a special function in the Litzmannstadt-Getto where was housed the Population Records Department.
Read what is written about it in the Traces of the Litzmannstadt-Getto, it's too interesting to miss.
Or you can choose for a shorter piece here:

At 2/4 Plac Koscielny was housed the Population Records Department, including the Registration Office, the Registry, the Statistics Department and the Archives. Here, in the Statistics Department The Chronicle of the Lodz Ghetto was compiled, one of the most important documents of the Second World War. 

The employees of the Archives gathered everything and anything concerning the operation of the ghetto. The documents include announcements, posters and circulars. Rumkowski's speeches were saved. Passports, identity cards and private letters of deportees were collected. Amazingly, a significant number of those documents survived. Above all, The Chronicle news reports were saved. 

But besides that families where living there in the apartments in the kamienica all the time.



You find a description of the project written for a newspaper by Anna Pawlowska here.
 







And here you will find something more about this project.

Finally we found by trying to ring at the houses doors and ask Kasia Szubert who was a participant in this project. She showed us the little book what was made after the project.

Unfortunately it's not available anymore...

The family of Kasia Szubert is going to participate in our project! I just heard this today. Tomorrow we will visit her and her family.