Mendel Grossman photograph collection

Mendel Grossman (1913-1945) was born in in Staszów, Poland to Shmuel Dawid (1882-1942) and Chana Ruchla (1887-1942) Grossman. He grew up in Łódź, Poland with three sisters, Rut, Rozka (b. 1918), and Feiga (b. 1910); and one brother, Jakub. His sister Rut immigrated to the United States in 1919, and his brother Jakub died of appendicitis before the war. Prior to the war, Mendel was a prolific artist and photographer. In 1939, Mendel and his family were sent to the Łódź ghetto. He got a job working for the Statistics Department taking photographs for identity cards. His position allowed him to secretly photograph and document the daily lives of ghetto inhabitants, including starving families, deportations, Zionist youth movements, executions, and the overall worsening conditions of the camp. He printed and distributed as many prints as he could. Shortly before the ghetto was liquidated in 1944, Mendel and his friends Nachman Zonabend and Arie Ben-Menachem hid approximately 10,000 negatives and some prints in several locations. Mendel was then sent to the Sachsenhausen work camp in Berlin. He perished in 1945 on the forced march after the Nazis evacuated the camp. After the war, Nachman, Arie, and Mendel’s sister Rozka were able to recover the negatives and prints. Rozka and her husband Moshe Zylbersztajn brought the negatives and prints with them when they immigrated to Israel in 1948, and have been instrumental in honoring Mendel’s work.

Moshe Boruch Zylbersztajn (Later Moshe Zilbar, 1923-2013) was born in Łódź to Abram (b. 1894) and Estera Ita Zylbersztajn (née Lasocka, b. 1904). Moshe had three sisters, Franka Frajdla (b. 1924), Gucia Gitl (b. 1926), and Malka (b. 1927). His family owned a house shoe store. Prior to the war, Moshe worked as an electrician and was involved with the Zionist youth organization Noʻar ha-Tsiyoni. In 1940, his family moved to the Łódź ghetto. Moshe worked in a sewing workshop, but continued to be involved with youth organizations. He also knew Mendel Grossman and Arie Ben-Menachem, and spent time with them and Mendel’s sister Rozka. In 1942, Moshe’s mother was deported to the Chełmno extermination camp during the Gehsperre Aktion where she perished. His sister, Malka died in the ghetto in 1943. In 1944, the ghetto was liquidated and Moshe, Franka, Gucia, and his father were sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in August. Moshe and Abram volunteered for metalwork, and were then sent to the Görlitz subcamp of Gross-Rosen concentration camp. Moshe and his father were liberated from the camp on May 6, 1945. His sisters Franka and Gitl were transferred from Auschwitz-Birkenau to the Stutthof concentration camp in 1944. Gitl perished on the forced-march, but Franka survived. In May, 1945 Moshe and his father returned to Łódź. Moshe was reunited with Rozka, and they became a couple. They immigrated to Israel in 1948, where Moshe worked as a civilian in the Israel Defense Force.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Hana Greenbaum and Shmuel Zilbar This gift is made in memory of Rozka Grosman Zilbar and Moshe Zilbar (Zilberstein), and Mendel Grossman who took these photographs.

The Mendel Grossman photograph collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Moshe Zilbar in 2005 and by Shmuel Zilbar in 2013. The accession formerly cataloged as 2013.535.1 has been incorporated into this collection.