Ike Diamond papers

Copyright Holder: Mr. Stan Mansbach The Ike Diamond papers include his 1934 Polish identification card, a 1946 passport entry indicating Diamond could enter Venezuela, and his 1939-1945 diary describing the outbreak of war, his confinement in the Warsaw ghetto, his escape, hiding on a farm in Otrębusy, and liberation. He appears to have begun his diary while in hiding in May 1943, so the descriptions of fall 1939 through summer 1943 are written as chapters in the past tense while entries beginning September 1, 1943 are written as diary entries in the present tense. The first half of the diary describes hardships during the invasion, persecution of Jews, Star of David armbands, poverty and starvation in the ghetto, charitable efforts within the ghetto, liquidation, the Warsaw ghetto uprising, escape, and hiding. The second half primarily documents the progress of the war and Diamond’s impatience for liberation. Ike Diamond (Izaak Diamentstzyn, Yitzhak Diamenstein, 1904-1974) was born in Warsaw to Dawid and Frajda Diamentsztyn. Following high school he had some training in machine construction, engineering, and clerical work, and worked as a manager for the Czerniak Bro. & Co. Metallurgical Company. His wife was Ruchla (Nina) Dimanetsztejn (circa 1907-1942) and their daughter was Lea (Lilka) Deimentsztejn (circa 1929-1942). They were confined in the Warsaw ghetto at the end of 1940, and Czerniak Bro. & Co. was closed. Diamond worked for the Puterman Bro. firm transporting kitchen utensils out of the ghetto to Polish firms for about a year, and in 1942 he started working at the Toebbens workshop producing coats for the German Army. His wife and child were deported in August 1942, and he learned from rumors that they were probably killed at Treblinka. His new partner, Blanka, had also lost her husband and daughter in 1942, and he helped her find a hiding place outside of the ghetto in March 1943. He escaped the ghetto himself during the Warsaw ghetto uprising, and he and Blanka found a hiding place on the farm of the Malkiewicz family in Otrębusy. They were liberated by Russian troops in January 1945. Diamond immigrated to the United States and became an American citizen.