Ringelblum archive

2.1.7 Ringelblum archive

Emanuel Ringelblum’s compilation of the archive Oyneg Shabes (Sabbath Joy) in the Warsaw ghetto is the unique example of a systematic effort to write history of the Holocaust from the inside perspective already during the war.84 Between 1942 and 1943, three parts of the archive containing a rich collection of the documentation about the ghetto reality (newspapers, letters, diaries, photographs, reports etc.) were hidden in three spots in and near the ghetto. Discovered in September 1946 and December 1950, two parts of this archive are considered among the most important sources about the Warsaw ghetto. The third part was never discovered.85 The survivors from the underground Ringelblum archive, Warsaw University-trained lawyer Hersz Wasser and journalist Rachel Auerbach both cooperated closely with the CŻKH.

(Sovietization of Poland under Stalinist influence)

(After the elections for the new Polish government in January 1947, the Democratic Block led by the Polish communists gained the majority of seats in the Parliament and the era of communism in Poland officially began. As the Polish communists needed to demonstrate their reliability in submitting the satellite state according to USSR leadership, they started to widely copy Soviet practices and ideological statements.)

(Poland during its transition into Soviet satellite)