Manual hand crank meat grinder
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 10.500 inches (26.67 cm) | Width: 10.500 inches (26.67 cm) | Depth: 4.000 inches (10.16 cm)
Archival History
The meat grinder was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection
Scope and Content
Manual hand-crank meat grinder of the type used in the Łódź Ghetto in German-occupied Poland from May 1940 to August 1944. Łódź was occupied by Germany a week after the September 1, 1939, invasion of Poland. The city was renamed Litzmannstadt, and in February 1940, approximately 160,000 people from the Jewish population were confined to a small, closed ghetto. All residents had to work, and many became forced laborers in ghetto factories. Eventually, nearly 100 factories were in operation. The major ones produced textiles, including uniforms for the Germany Army. In the ghetto, people attempted to maintain their normal lives, despite the increasing hardships. Women, when they were not laboring in the factories, worked to prepare food and do laundry for their families. These activities were made difficult by the meager food rations they received, and the lack of running water throughout most of the ghetto. Due to the severe overcrowding and scarce food, disease and starvation were common. The Judenrat (Jewish Council) were forced to administer the ghetto for the Germans. Judenrat chairman, Mordechai Rumkowski, thought hard work and increased manufacturing output would preserve the ghetto, but in January 1942, mass deportations to Chelmno killing center began. By the end of the year, half of the residents were murdered. In summer 1944, Łódź, the last ghetto in Poland, was destroyed, and the remaining Jews were sent to Chelmno and Auschwitz-Birkenau killing centers.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Dark silver-colored, metal meat grinder with a hand crank. The hopper, a funnel with an oval-shaped opening at the top of the grinder extends down into the body. Text is embossed on one side of the hopper and the body. On one side of the body, an L-shaped metal handle with a smooth wooden knob at the end is attached with a screw to the auger inside the body. The opposite side of the body extends out into a wide, open circle with a grind plate held in place by a locking ring over the opening. The grind plate is ringed with repetitive small, circular holes throughout. Extending down from the body is a solid metal arm which extends down and curves out, and then inward to form the C-shape of a double anvil C-clamp. At the bottom is a threaded hole that holds a long screw with a rounded, oblong handle on the lower end and a flat, circular surface instead of a tip. The top of the clamp forms into flat feet on either side, for resting against the top of the table or counter. Text is embossed on both flat sides of the arm. The grinder is worn and discolored overall. The grind plate has material stuck in several holes, and a white crystallized growth spreading out from the center.
Corporate Bodies
- Litzmannstadt-Getto (Łódź, Poland)
Subjects
- Forced labor--Poland--Łódź.
- Jewish ghettos--Poland--Łódź.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland.
- Łódź (Poland)
- World War, 1939-1945--Conscript labor--Poland--Łódź.
- Jewish women in the Holocaust--Poland.
- Jews--Persecutions--Poland.
- Textile workers--Poland.
- Slave labor--Poland--Łódź.
Genre
- Cooking utensils.
- Object
- Tools and Equipment