Melania Fogelbaum papers

Melania Fogelbaum (1911-1944) was a poet and painter born to Cyla Fogelbaum (b. 1874) in Łódź, Poland. In 1940 Melania and her mother were forced into the Łódź ghetto where Cyla died on February 25, 1942. Melania served as a spiritual and cultural leader to a group of youths in the ghetto. They gathered in a small room in her attic where they listened to music and recited poems. Melania became afflicted with tuberculosis and was unable to work. Others shared their own rations with her for more than two years. On August 1, 1944 Melania was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where she was killed. During her time in the ghetto, Melania became very close friends with Helena Zymler-Svantesson (b.1924 in Będzin, Poland). Helena’s father, Wolf Zemler (b. 1889) worked in an office and her mother, Balbina Zemler (née Sztatler, b. 1892) took care of Helena and her brother, Bernard (b.1921). The family moved to Łódź in 1929 and were forced into the Łódź ghetto in April 1940. In October 1944 Helena was transferred to the Halbstadt labor camp in Czechoslovakia, a sub-camp of Gross-Rosen, and was liberated on May 8, 1945 by the Soviet Army. The Melania Fogelbaum papers consist of writings and correspondence documenting Melania Fogelbaum’s experiences in the Łódź ghetto between 1941 and 1944. The collection includes a notebook of poems and several loose pages from a journal of poems, drawings, and journal entries written by Melania while in the ghetto. Correspondence includes postcards between Melania and friends and family including Hala Frumkowska, Szymon Gliksman, Hipolit Fogelbaum, Cyla Fogelbaum, Jozef Fogelbaum, and a letter from the Jewish Council notifying Melania that due to her illness, she will receive additional rations for one week. The collection also includes photographs of Helena Zymler’s family and the Łódź ghetto.