Archival Records and Jewish Family History

Dawid Perelmuter, a pharmacist, community activist, and member of Łódź's Jewish community whose story can be partially reconstructed through surviving archival records.

or descendants researching Jewish families from Łódź, such records provide something far more personal than dates and names alone:they preserve fragments of individual lives, decisions, fears, and hopes.

The story of Aniela Menkes begins in Łódź - a city where family histories are preserved not only in vital records, but also in addresses, property registers, and scattered archival notes. Born on February 19, 1897, into a merchant family as the daughter of Dawid Stefan Łęczycki and Eugenia née Rozental, she belonged to a world that combined economic success with cultural aspirations.

Aleksander Bardini is another artist connected to Łódź — a figure whose name appears in the history of Polish theatre and film, but whose early life in the city is less often told.

While working with postwar records of the Central Committee of Jews in Poland, I came across a registration card belonging to Judyta Berg — a Jewish dancer associated with Łódź, known from her appearance in The Dybbuk (1937).

Artur Szyk, portrait published in Nasz Przegląd Ilustrowany . The birthplace of Artur Szyk is generally given as Łódź. However, archival records from Łódź reveal a more complex picture, with repeated references to Połock. Artur Szyk is today remembered as one of the most distinctive Jewish artists of the 20th century — an illustrator and miniaturist whose work gained international recognition, particularly in the United States. But to understand his story, it is worth returni

“Referring to my brother Szymon Dzigan, an artist of the Jewish stage, I have the honor to respectfully ask that you kindly use your influence to grant me, or possibly my husband, any kind of employment, as I find myself in a very critical financial situation, partly caused by an illness that ended with the death of our three-year-old little boy, as well as my mother.” — a letter written by Ruta Dzigan Trajster.

Each document contains only a small fragment of information — a profession, an address, a date of birth, or the names of family members. But when combined, they allow us to reconstruct the everyday life of a family and place it within the broader history of the city.

When researching Jewish ancestors from Łódź, many people begin with birth, marriage, or death records. However, the archives of the city preserve many other types of documents that can reveal remarkably detailed information about its former residents.