Real photo postcard depicting pedestrian movement along the main street of the ghetto, with a sign prominently displayed in the center reading: Wohngebiet der Juden – Betreten verboten – “Jewish residential area – Entry forbidden.” At the bottom right, the location is printed: Litzmannstadt – the German name for Łódź. The postcard was sent by mail on July 15, 1940, by a German soldier.
A real photo postcard depicting a Jewish policeman and a German soldier directing pedestrian traffic across the main street that separated the two parts of the Łódź Ghetto. Later, a wooden pedestrian bridge was constructed over the street to allow the tramway route to remain in the Aryan sector.
The postcard was sent via military mail (Feldpost) by a soldier serving in a medical unit, to the Ludwig Pfeiffer family (Familie Ludwig Pfeiffer), residing in the town of Lorsbach in the Taunus region, at 1 Kirchstraße. The message reads (in German):
“My dear ones, I was very happy to receive your postcards. I am doing very well here in Poland. Of course, it would be nicer if I were closer to my parents. Soon my training will be over, and then maybe I’ll get leave. Write me again soon. Warm greetings to all of you.”
The tone is familial and calm, in stark contrast to the reality in Łódź in the summer of 1940. While the soldier writes that “I am doing very well” (Mir geht es ganz gut) and that he is enjoying his time in “Poland, ” on those very streets, beyond the sealed fences of the ghetto, Jews were already suffering from severe hunger and overcrowding.
In the month the postcard was sent, the ghetto was already hermetically sealed. On April 30, 1940, the gates were closed, and July was one of the first months in which the Jews of Łódź experienced complete isolation from the outside world. Unlike other ghettos (such as Warsaw), in Łódź it was nearly impossible to smuggle in food due to tight security and the geographic isolation of the neglected “Bałuty” quarter. The food shortage was turning from a troubling issue into a life-threatening crisis. The Jewish police were already operating and enforcing order in the streets, and Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski (“the Elder of the Jews”) had already established his centralized rule through the ghetto’s bureaucratic apparatus.
9×14 cm. Very good condition.
