Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
Handwritten Booklet in Honor of Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski – Lodz Ghetto – Purim 1941
Opening: $500
Sold for: $625
Including buyer's premium
"Mishloach Manot… 5701" (Hebrew), a handwritten booklet made for the festival of Purim and presented to the head of the Lodz Ghetto Judenrat, Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski. [Lodz], 1941.
The booklet, presumably made by a resident of the Lodz Ghetto, contains several word plays in the spirit of Purim: the author's name was encoded within a verse written on the title page (some of the letters are marked and when combined reveal the Hebrew name Ya'akov Brickman); the second page features seven blessings, arranged in the form of a Star of David; and the third page features an acrostic poem – the first letters of the lines spell the Hebrew name "Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski". The booklet also features three interesting inscriptions – a Hebrew inscription on the title page reads "From the yeshiva students, [?]irska 43/45" (Hebrew); another Hebrew inscription on the same page reads "My works are for a king; my tongue is a pen of an expert scribe" (Psalms 45:2); the third inscription, written in Yiddish on the back of the last leaf, reads "to the elder [or wisest] of the Jews of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto, Mr. M.C. Rumkowski".
Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski (1877-1944) headed the Judenrat of the Lodz Ghetto through its entire existence. Rumkowski is considered one of the most controversial figures in the history of the Holocaust and as the head of the ghetto instituted an extreme personality cult, orchestrating parades in his honor, hanging his picture in schools, issuing banknotes and postage stamps with his portrait, etc., so much that some defined his rule as "a state within a state, a corrupt Fascist miniature". Among his roles, Rumkowski was responsible for providing lists of people to be deported to the extermination camps. In 1944, he was transferred with the last inmates of the ghetto to the Auschwitz extermination camp, where he was murdered, presumably, that same day.
[4] leaves (two sheets folded in half, stapled to form a booklet). Approx. 30.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains and creases. Fold lines. Small tears to edges. A small open tear to first leaf (slightly affecting text).
The booklet, presumably made by a resident of the Lodz Ghetto, contains several word plays in the spirit of Purim: the author's name was encoded within a verse written on the title page (some of the letters are marked and when combined reveal the Hebrew name Ya'akov Brickman); the second page features seven blessings, arranged in the form of a Star of David; and the third page features an acrostic poem – the first letters of the lines spell the Hebrew name "Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski". The booklet also features three interesting inscriptions – a Hebrew inscription on the title page reads "From the yeshiva students, [?]irska 43/45" (Hebrew); another Hebrew inscription on the same page reads "My works are for a king; my tongue is a pen of an expert scribe" (Psalms 45:2); the third inscription, written in Yiddish on the back of the last leaf, reads "to the elder [or wisest] of the Jews of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto, Mr. M.C. Rumkowski".
Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski (1877-1944) headed the Judenrat of the Lodz Ghetto through its entire existence. Rumkowski is considered one of the most controversial figures in the history of the Holocaust and as the head of the ghetto instituted an extreme personality cult, orchestrating parades in his honor, hanging his picture in schools, issuing banknotes and postage stamps with his portrait, etc., so much that some defined his rule as "a state within a state, a corrupt Fascist miniature". Among his roles, Rumkowski was responsible for providing lists of people to be deported to the extermination camps. In 1944, he was transferred with the last inmates of the ghetto to the Auschwitz extermination camp, where he was murdered, presumably, that same day.
[4] leaves (two sheets folded in half, stapled to form a booklet). Approx. 30.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains and creases. Fold lines. Small tears to edges. A small open tear to first leaf (slightly affecting text).
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah