Substytuty normalności. Żydowska „biżuteria” z getta łódzkiego

Abstract

Pretending to live a normal life was typical of all ghettos and communities who experienced the Holocaust. The Jews imprisoned in Lodz ghetto were subjected to direct and indirect extermination. They wanted to enjoy the sun, wished to sing, attend concerts and plays, pray in their synagogues, have fun at parties, and play volleyball. Their desire to pretend to live a normal life under extreme circumstances was constantly supported by their wish to give all kinds of presents to others. It is true, they had a different character and goal, but their emotional value was most important. Jewish “jewellery” was made in the Lodz “district of death” on various occasions, for different people, using different materials, all the time while they lived in the ghetto. Everybody needed this jewellery – common inhabitants and functionaries o f the Jewish and Nazi administration. Part of it is now stored at the Museum of the History of the City of Lodz, the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, the Regional Museum in Konin, and Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem. Many of the artefacts made by Jews are still in private collections. Nobody knows who made the ghetto “jewellery.” It was perhaps the pre-war Lodz engravers, although its more likely that it mainly was made in the factory of the Union of Engravers in the ghetto. One may also assume that they were “produced” in the so-called metal department (Metallabteilung). Analysing some products, one has the impression that particular elements were by made by experts in the jewellery art. The items we have indicate a very primitive jewellery workshop. It was not, however, the aesthetic values that was important then. The point was to create for oneself and others a substitute of normal life.