Pola Znamirowski

Pola Znamirowski

Pola was born on May 8, 1926. She was the Daughter of Tova Minski and Simcha Znamirowski. She was Jewish, born in Łódź, Poland. She had a little Sister, Chaja, and an older Brother, Tanchum. Her Father was a painter.

After the German Invasion of Poland she lived in the Łódź Ghetto at Lisiopada #6.

Conditions in the Łódź Ghetto were beyond horrific. Hundreds of people died daily from starvation, disease, hypothermia, exhaustion, suicide, and outright murder by the German Guards.

Pola’s biggest fear, however, was shared by almost every inmate in the Ghetto: the ever looming threat of Deportation. Many had heard rumors of what horrors awaited those who were deported. Most believed the rumors, as they had seen firsthand the lengths of Nazi brutality.

On September 10, 1942, Pola and her Family were deported. Pola, her Mother, and her eight year old Sister were shortly thereafter murdered in a mobile gassing van at the Chełmno Extermination Camp. The mobile gassing vans were only used briefly at Chełmno and were soon replaced by the more efficient Gas Chambers.

Pola’s Brother and Father escaped deportation that day. Her Father was beaten to death with a shovel on the street two days later.

Her Brother was later deported to the Auschwitz Death Camp and to another Concentration Camp in Germany. He survived the war and moved to Israel, where he served in the IDF. He later moved to the US and participated in the prosecution of Jacob Tannenbaum, a brutal Kapo from Auschwitz. He also gave several testimonies to the USHMM. He died in 2013. He worked hard to keep the memories of his two Sisters alive.

This is the only photo of Pola Znamirowski. It shows her crying in anguish and fear just moments before she was deported to Chełmno Extermination Camp. She is only sixteen years old in this photo.