Jewish Genealogy Lodz: The Malowist Family and Identity Card Records from the State Archives in Lodz
- JewishLodz
- Mar 9
- 3 min read
Sometimes a single surname in an archival document opens the door to a much larger story.
While working with identity card applications preserved in the State Archives in Łódź (Lodz), I came across the name Jakub Małowist. The surname immediately caught my attention.
Could he be related to the well-known Polish historian Marian Małowist, born in Łódź in 1909?
The answer turned out to be yes — Jakub Małowist was his father.
The 1929 application for an identity card provides several details about him. It records his profession as physician and notes that he presented an earlier identity document confirming his identity. The document also gives his date and place of birth: 27 August 1866 in Grodno.
Additional archival records allow us to reconstruct the life of the family in Lodz.
A residence card (karta meldunkowa) from the years 1916–1921 lists Jakub Małowist together with his wife Rozalia and their two sons: Witold and Marian. The document also records the family’s addresses in the city - they lived at Długa 35, and from 1918 the address given is Cegielniana 15. Interestingly, this is the same address that appears in the identity card application from 1929, confirming that Jakub Małowist was still living there at that time.
Another archival document provides a final detail. The burial card from the Jewish cemetery in Lodz records that Jakub Małowist died suddenly on 11 December 1934 and that the funeral procession departed from Gdanska 35, his last recorded address in the city.
Biographical sources confirm that Jakub Małowist practiced medicine in Lodz and later became a municipal doctor and director of the Reserve Hospital.
He was married to Rozalia Landau (1874–1958), daughter of Herman Landau and Emilia
Markusfeld. Archival records also reveal an interesting detail about her surname: in some documents she appears as Rozalia Landau-Gutenberg, showing that the family name was used in a compound form.
The couple had two sons born in Łódź: Witold (1905) and Marian (1909). Marian Małowist later became one of the most important Polish historians of economic history in the twentieth century. His research on the economic development of Europe, long-distance trade and comparative economic systems influenced generations of historians.
You can read more about his work here:https://polishhistory.pl/marian-malowist-and-witold-kula-polish-leading-figures-of-world-historiography/
Literary sources add another layer to the story. In the book Widzieć jasno bez zachwytu by Robert Jarocki, it is mentioned that Jakub Małowist came from Grodno, where he grew up in a rather poor Jewish family, and that among his relatives there was a learned Talmudist.
Taken together, these documents allow us to follow the Malowist family through the urban landscape of pre-war Lodz - from Długa 35, to Cegielniana 15, and finally Gdańska 35.
What began as a single surname in an archival document turned into a small reconstruction
of a Jewish family from Lodz.
And it all started with one identity card application preserved in the archives.
Jewish genealogy Lodz: sources for researching Jewish families from the city
The story of the Malowist family also illustrates how different archival sources preserved in the archives in Lodz can help reconstruct the lives of Jewish families who once lived in the city.
In this case, information about one family came from several types of records:
applications for identity cards
residence cards (karty meldunkowe)
marriage records
burial cards from the Jewish cemetery
and biographical publications
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.
If you are researching Jewish ancestors from Lodz, remember that many families left traces in archival records preserved in the city.
If you need help locating specific documents or understanding archival sources for jewish genealogy Lodz, I offer genealogical guidance based on the collections of the State Archives in Lodz.
Published sources:
Jarocki, Robert. Widzieć jasno bez zachwytu. Warszawa.
Siewierski, Tomasz. “Marian Małowist and Witold Kula: Polish Leading Figures of World Historiography.” Polish History.https://polishhistory.pl/marian-malowist-and-witold-kula-polish-leading-figures-of-world-historiography/
Szukalak, Marek. Słownik biograficzny Żydów łódzkich oraz z Łodzią związanych. Seria II, t. 2. Łódź.
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