Health Care Organization of the Central Committee of Jews in Poland Towarzystwo Ochrony Zdrowia Ludności Żydowskiej w Polsce przy Centralnym Komitecie Żydow w Polsce (TOZ), Sygn. 324

Identifier
irn516513
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2005.34
  • RG-15.107M
Dates
1 Jan 1945 - 31 Dec 1950
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Polish
  • English
  • French
  • Russian
  • German
  • Yiddish
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

89,203 digital images, JPEG

80 microfilm reels (digitized), 35 mm

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Towarzystwo Ochrony Zdrowia Ludności Żydowskiej w Polsce (Society for the Protection of Jewish Health in Poland)-TOZ: the Jewish organization established in Poland in 1921, derived from the Russian OZE organization (Obszczestwo Zdrawoochranienija Jewriejew). TOZ provided health care, especially for children, by establishing a network of infirmaries, sanatoriums and clinics. It financed summer camps for children from poor families, popularized hygiene and sport, for example by issuing pamphlets and periodicals on this topic. It contributed to combating the epidemics of typhus and tuberculosis. TOZ was financed by OZE and American Joint Distribution Committee (a welfare organization), as well as by many private funders. The president of TOZ was Gerszon Lewin. In 1939, TOZ had 300 units in 50 cities in the whole Poland. It was also active during WWII – it endeavored to help the starving and the sick in ghettos. In 1942 it was dissolved by order of German authorities. It was re-established in October 1946 within Central Committee of Jews in Poland. In 1950 it was again dissolved by the communist authorities of People’s Republic of Poland, and its units were taken over by the Ministry of Health.

Archival History

Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. Emanuela Ringelbluma

Acquisition

Forms part of the Claims Conference International Holocaust Documentation Archive at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This archive consists of documentation whose reproduction and/or acquisition was made possible with funding from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Source of acquisition is the Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. Emanuela Ringelbluma (ŻIH), Sygn. 324. In 1950 Towarzystwo Ochrony Zdrowia (TOZ) was liquidated and its archives moved to the regional offices and headquarters in ŻIH (the Jewish Historical Institute) in Warsaw, Poland, and placed together with other files of the Central Committee of the Jews in Poland. However, the TOZ archives are not complete; there are some gaps. The survived files mainly relate to Łódź, Warsaw, Dzierzoniów, Wrocław, Kraków, and Szczecin. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the filmed collection from the ŻIH via the United States Holocaust Museum International Archives Project in Feb. 2005.

Scope and Content

Contains records related to the health conditions of Poles and Jews who survived the Holocaust and repatriates returning to Poland from the Soviet Union. The majority of the documents relate to child care, and to cooperation with international organizations.The most complete records are from Łódź, Warsaw, Dzierzoniów, Wrocław, Kraków and Szczecin. Materials include name indexes.

System of Arrangement

Organization is thematic.

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Copyright Holder: Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. Emanuela Ringelbluma

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.