Dawid Perelmuter – A Jewish Pharmacist in Łódź

Thanks to the collections preserved in the State Archives in Łódź, local newspapers, and numerous other historical sources, it is often possible to reconstruct the lives of people who are no longer with us. Sometimes a single residence registration card, a newspaper notice, or a photograph is enough to reveal a person's profession, address, social activities, and even small details of their everyday life.

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

47 Narutowicza Street (formerly Dzielna Street), Łódź. Source: State Archives in Łódź.

Dawid Perelmuter was born in 1884 in Kovel, the son of Majer and Ruchla. It is not known exactly when he arrived in Łódź, but records from the early twentieth century confirm his presence in the city. Residence registration cards and the 1921 voter list of the Jewish Community of Łódź show that he lived at 47 Dzielna Street (later renamed Narutowicza Street) together with his two brothers.

Archival documents also provide insight into his professional career. Perelmuter owned a pharmacy located at 24 Dzielna Street. In later sources from the late 1920s, the same address appears as 24 Narutowicza Street. This corresponds with changes in the city's street names: in 1924 Dzielna Street was renamed after Poland's first president, Gabriel Narutowicz. It is therefore highly likely that both addresses refer to the same pharmacy

operating under the street's new name.

Perelmuter's position within the Jewish community extended beyond his professional work.

Jubilee of pharmacy supply business owners, 1926. Dawid Perelmuter is standing first from the right. Source: Panorama, 28 November 1926.

In 1931, he ran for the Council of the Jewish Community of Łódź as a candidate of the Non-Partisan Economic Bloc. The electoral list included a number of well-known and respected members of Łódź's Jewish business and professional elite. His candidacy reflects both his standing in the community and his involvement in public affairs.

An especially interesting testament to his professional life is a surviving photograph taken during a jubilee celebration of pharmacy supply business owners. The image offers a rare glimpse into the professional circles of pharmacists and pharmaceutical entrepreneurs active in interwar Łódź.

Perelmuter's story can also be traced during the German occupation. A surviving register of

Pharmacy No. 3 in the Łódź Ghetto. Source: State Archives in Łódź.

pharmacists employed in the Łódź Ghetto lists him as the manager of Pharmacy No. 3. During this period, he lived with his wife, Ruchla, at 3 Zgierska Street. A photograph of the pharmacy building has also survived, providing a valuable visual record of pharmaceutical services operating within the ghetto.

The surviving personnel records of Pharmacy No. 3 also provide a rare glimpse into the

people who worked alongside Perelmuter. Among the employees were pharmacist Stanisław Przysucher, pharmacy assistant Gitla Kalmanowicz, and messenger Eljasz Chaim Nirenberg, as well as several other staff members. Such records allow us not only to reconstruct the biography of an individual pharmacist, but also to better understand the daily functioning of a ghetto pharmacy and the network of people who helped keep it operating under extremely difficult conditions.

Employees of Pharmacy No. 3 in the Łódź Ghetto. Source: State Archives in Łódź.

The story of Dawid Perelmuter demonstrates how much can still be learned about former residents of Łódź through archival research. Residence records, voter lists, professional documentation, photographs, and ghetto-era sources make it possible to reconstruct fragments of the life of a man who was part of the city's history for decades. At the same time, these records remind us of the important role that Jewish pharmacists played in the social and economic life of Łódź before the Second World War and of the dramatic changes brought about by the German occupation.

Dawid Perelmuter's story is only one of many that can be uncovered in the archives. Merchants, physicians, pharmacists, craftsmen, teachers, industrialists, and factory workers all left traces of their lives in historical records.

What did your Jewish ancestors do in Łódź? Have you been able to discover their professions or places of work? Feel free to share their stories in the comments.