Jewish treasure from the beginning of the Nazi invasion of Poland found in Lodz

During the renovation of an old tenement house in Lodz, Poland, a collection of more than 400 valuable objects of Jewish families hidden in fear of the Nazi occupation was discovered. The collection includes kiddush cups, Hanukkah cups, menorahs, sacred artifacts and fragments of the Talmud, as well as items of daily and household furnishings, including silver-plated crockery, glass perfume bottles and clothing. Everything was wrapped in Polish, Yiddish and German newspapers from October 1939.

The treasure was discovered at the end of the year during renovation work on a 100-year-old building at 23 Polnoczna Street, just behind the ghetto where Łódź Jews were imprisoned during the Holocaust. By the end of the war, only 10,000 of the original 230,000 Łódź Jews had survived. Nazi forces occupied the city in September 1939 in the first week of the invasion of Poland. The ghetto in the northeastern part of Lodz was established in early February 1940. More than 150,000 Łódź Jews had to move to an area of only 3 km2. Polnoczna Street formed the southern border of the ghetto.

The file lay inside a damaged wooden chest buried in the foundations of the building. Initial examination revealed about 280 items, but when construction was halted and the site was explored by archaeologists, they found the remaining parts of the treasure: "A find like this happens once every ten years," Lodz Deputy Mayor Adam Pustelnik tweeted, adding that the timing of the discovery came just in time for Hanukkah - the Festival of Lights.

"The discovery is remarkable, especially for the number of artifacts. These are extremely valuable, historical objects that testify to the history of the inhabitants of this building," Agnieszka Kowalewska-Wójcik, director of the Łódź Municipal Investment Board, was quoted as saying by Polish media. She explained that the artifacts are being transported to the city's archaeological museum, adding, "I hope that a special exhibition will be prepared that is accessible to all."

"For us archaeologists, such unusual finds are a challenge, but also a great joy. I cannot remember the last time such treasures were discovered in Łódź," said museum archaeologist Bartłomiej Gwóźdź. "At the moment, every object is carefully cleaned and preserved so that nothing is damaged, broken or destroyed," he added.

Before World War II, Lodz was one of Poland's main industrial cities with one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe. More than 230,000 Jews lived there, making up about a third of the city's population. Almost all of them were murdered by the Nazis during the occupation of Poland between 1939 and 1945.

Roman Nemec

Sources: jta.org, jpost,com

Among other things, silver and silver-plated everyday objects

parfaits, glasses and cosmetics

The items were wrapped in newspapers

Jews on the footbridge of the Lodz ghetto over Hohensteiner Strasse

Treasure stored in fear of the Nazis in October 1939