“CAST ME NOT OFF IN MY TIME OF OLD AGE…”: THE AGED AND ...

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© Copyright 2013 Elizabeth C. Strauss
“CAST ME NOT OFF IN MY TIME OF OLD AGE…”: THE AGED AND AGING IN THE ŁÓDŹ GHETTO, 1939-1944 Abstract by Elizabeth C. Strauss This dissertation is an exploration of the aged and aging in the Łódź ghetto from 1939 to 1944. The first two years of German occupation and Jewish subjugation from May 1940 to September 1942 provide the chronological focus for my analysis of the experiences of older Jews in the Łódź ghetto. Aged Jews in the ghetto struggled for their own survival and contributed to the wellbeing of the larger community. Constant negotiations between the needs of older Jews and various communal objectives generated moments of solidarity and revealed devastating tensions within the community. The escalating policies of German authorities during the first years of the ghetto period created an environment in which possibilities of survival among the elderly dwindled. Negotiations for survival in the contexts of work, family, and communal life reveal the degradation of fundamental social structures. Through the lens of aging, both actual and metaphorical, this dissertation reveals connections between the fate of the aged in the ghetto and the community as a whole. In early September 1942 German authorities led a violent assault on the Jewish community
Page 1: “CAST ME NOT OFF IN MY TIME OF OL
Page 5 and 6: For my family. ii
Page 7 and 8: 3.7 Conclusions ...................
Page 9 and 10: enthusiasm ensured my scholarly suc
Page 11 and 12: INTRODUCTION: INDIVIDUAL AND COLLEC
Page 13 and 14: ghetto inhabitants. 5 The successes
Page 15 and 16: situation.” 8 The population regi
Page 17 and 18: Silman and Laski would have been pr
Page 19 and 20: occupation forces encountered an et
Page 21 and 22: the month of November, the Jews of
Page 23 and 24: authority to manage the internal li
Page 25 and 26: with the objectives of German autho
Page 27 and 28: seventeen workshops [Arbet-resortn
Page 29 and 30: The transports of 1942 culminated i
Page 31 and 32: city government in Łódź, Biebow
Page 33 and 34: question. This body of literature a
Page 35 and 36: Scholarly initiatives toward an int
Page 37 and 38: some semblance of normalcy. 41 Tim
Page 39 and 40: This dissertation utilizes the work
Page 41 and 42: The publication and translation of
Page 43 and 44: evolution of the “Final Solution
Page 45 and 46: ideology and practice. Old age was
Page 47 and 48: younger adults and teens, and the p
Page 49 and 50: and policies. Read together, contem
Page 51 and 52: Terminology A methodological challe
Page 53 and 54:
life course and was shaped by a num
Page 55 and 56:
this study were born at the end of
Page 57 and 58:
increasingly exclusionary visions o
Page 59 and 60:
exhibited in his rule of the Łódz
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feeble old man: “The old man with
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assessment. Older men and women had
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of the ghetto the hallmarks of comm
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By summer 1942 the connection betwe
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community’s emphasis on productio
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“useless.” 96 Those categories
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construction of personal identity i
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slave labor because it hastened the
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Responding logically, Rumkowski emp
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words been given their full due by
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elderly Jews in the Łódź ghetto,
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these men identified with an occupa
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approximately 300 workers. 124 With
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China and as chief engineer at a re
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an exercise in negotiating new iden
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Between 1940 and 1942 manufacturing
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the benefit of developing and maint
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was to help with the expansion of g
Page 97 and 98:
common financial and social commitm
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From Rumkowski and the ghetto elite
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the transformative effects of power
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the rank of colonel. He continued t
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Wilhelm Caspari (b. 4 February 1872
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1939 translated into steadfast idea
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“the main thing is that they are
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in addition to the changing role of
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Elderly men and women acted as crit
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son worked as an engineer in Łód
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was involved. 191 Perhaps this refl
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care for her. 196 Mrs. Karp, a self
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and acted with purpose. The mother
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that her presence was a serious dis
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denied food by their families, they
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hunger and illness. According to th
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Within this timeframe, the aged res
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Shrayboym wrote, “great is my ang
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was living in Warsaw, the other she
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Kosowski petitioned for re-entry to
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nature.” 231 Habit was only a par
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observed the intimate bond between
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2.5 Conclusions As a lens for under
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CHAPTER 3: THE AGED AND THE COMMUNI
Page 145 and 146:
1874 in Slonimo) was a highly educa
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once or twice per week beginning in
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ecause Rumkowski determined that he
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saddened him most was to see how th
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3.3 Communal Aid for Older Jews Eff
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Rumkowski secured a loan from the G
Page 157 and 158:
substantiate the veracity of the ap
Page 159 and 160:
The act of submitting an applicatio
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to the community before the war. He
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time of need. Rumkowski’s Departm
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wrote: “Each of the pensioners ca
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to free us from our plight, please
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elderly people, I turn to you with
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a paragraph to express her advanced
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and persecution. The home began as
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effectively. And, as Zelkowicz note
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the inability of Jews from the Reic
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“[…] A singer still demands to
Page 181 and 182:
and implemented two phases of Aktio
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An opportunity to kill two birds wi
Page 185 and 186:
3.7 Conclusions So few of the elder
Page 187 and 188:
intervene? Then I shift focus to th
Page 189 and 190:
ecause elderly and children were th
Page 191 and 192:
summer of 1942 is impossible to asc
Page 193 and 194:
However, the entry testified to the
Page 195 and 196:
certificates, registration books an
Page 197 and 198:
The social welfare system created i
Page 199 and 200:
will say a word on behalf of old pe
Page 201 and 202:
Aktion to the conduct of German aut
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26 July 1942, Herman Kruk observed
Page 205 and 206:
Most Jewish accounts portrayed a st
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children to designated collection p
Page 209 and 210:
this provides no security, because
Page 211 and 212:
A life of piety and of “fealty to
Page 213 and 214:
Hiding was difficult for older men
Page 215 and 216:
who had spent decades together. Daw
Page 217 and 218:
harried features and the deathly te
Page 219 and 220:
The other involved Selver-Urbach’
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itter fate, for sure, but the klal,
Page 223 and 224:
Families were destroyed in the proc
Page 225 and 226:
4.11 Conclusions If there was any q
Page 227 and 228:
CONCLUSION On January 18, 1943 the
Page 229 and 230:
atmosphere of life in the ghettos e
Page 231 and 232:
and close quarters dictated that th
Page 233 and 234:
Just as Jews left in the ghetto in
Page 235 and 236:
R 70 - Polizeidienststelle in einge
Page 237 and 238:
_____. Zydzi a Powstanie Styczniowe
Page 239 and 240:
Bankier, David, and Dan Michman, ed
Page 241 and 242:
Burr, Vivien. “Psychological Dist
Page 243 and 244:
Friedländer, Saul. Nazi Germany an
Page 245 and 246:
_____. “The Modern Jewish Family:
Page 247 and 248:
Kuperstein, Isaiah. “Rumors: A So
Page 249 and 250:
———. “Motherhood Under Sieg
Page 251 and 252:
Shenk, Dena, Boyd Davis, James R. P
Page 253 and 254:
Wachsmann, Nikolaus. “‘Annihila
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