The Oyneg Shabbat Underground Archive in the Warsaw Ghetto
Docu-animation digital series // 5 episodes // total runtime: 37.5 minutes // Commissioned by Yad Vashem // 2016
The Oyneg Shabbat Underground Archive in the Warsaw Ghetto
Docu-animation digital series // 5 episodes // total runtime: 37.5 minutes // Commissioned by Yad Vashem // 2016
In September 1939, Nazi Germany conquered Poland. Shortly after, historian Emanuel Ringelblum began chronicling the events overtaking the Jews of Warsaw and the surrounding areas under Nazi control. Once the Jews were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, Ringelblum decided to found the clandestine Oyneg Shabbes (“Joy of the Sabbath”) Archive. He assembled a group of documentors of different backgrounds, with the intention of chronicling the events as they transpired at all levels of Jewish society. He had the archive buried under the ground of the Warsaw ghetto in metal boxes and milk cans, in three separate places. After the war, two caches of the archive were discovered in 1946 and 1950; the third cache was never found. The Oyneg Shabbes Archive remains the largest collection of Jewish documentation detailing the fate of the Jews under Nazi rule.
In this mini-series, each of the five episodes focuses on a different member from the underground. Told only in their own words, the story was written solely from their diaries and letters.
In this mini-series, each of the five episodes focuses on a different member from the underground. Told only in their own words, the story was written solely from their diaries and letters.
In September 1939, Nazi Germany conquered Poland. Shortly after, historian Emanuel Ringelblum began chronicling the events overtaking the Jews of Warsaw and the surrounding areas under Nazi control. Once the Jews were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, Ringelblum decided to found the clandestine Oyneg Shabbes (“Joy of the Sabbath”) Archive. He assembled a group of documentors of different backgrounds, with the intention of chronicling the events as they transpired at all levels of Jewish society. He had the archive buried under the ground of the Warsaw ghetto in metal boxes and milk cans, in three separate places. After the war, two caches of the archive were discovered in 1946 and 1950; the third cache was never found. The Oyneg Shabbes Archive remains the largest collection of Jewish documentation detailing the fate of the Jews under Nazi rule.
In this mini-series, each of the five episodes focuses on a different member from the underground. Told only in their own words, the story was written solely from their diaries and letters.
In this mini-series, each of the five episodes focuses on a different member from the underground. Told only in their own words, the story was written solely from their diaries and letters.
Peretz Opoczynski was a journalist, writer, and educator. During World War II Opoczynski was a member of the underground archive in the Warsaw Ghetto, the Oyneg Shabbes (“Joy of the Sabbath”). Opoczynski documented the sights he saw and his experiences as a mailman in the ghetto.
Peretz Opoczynski was a journalist, writer, and educator. During World War II Opoczynski was a member of the underground archive in the Warsaw Ghetto, the Oyneg Shabbes (“Joy of the Sabbath”). Opoczynski documented the sights he saw and his experiences as a mailman in the ghetto.
Emanuel Ringelblum’s diary
Emanuel Ringelblum’s diary
Abraham Lewin, an educator and a member of the clandestine Oyneg Shabbes (“Joy of the Sabbath”) Archive maintained a diary depicting the wartime events in the Warsaw ghetto. It is rare in that it covers in real time the Great Deportation of the summer 1942, during which some 265,000 Jews were deported to their deaths in Treblinka, and some 10,000 were murdered within the ghetto. Abraham Lewin survived the Great Deportation and continued documenting the tragic events of the ghetto until his capture by the Nazis.
Abraham Lewin, an educator and a member of the clandestine Oyneg Shabbes (“Joy of the Sabbath”) Archive maintained a diary depicting the wartime events in the Warsaw ghetto. It is rare in that it covers in real time the Great Deportation of the summer 1942, during which some 265,000 Jews were deported to their deaths in Treblinka, and some 10,000 were murdered within the ghetto. Abraham Lewin survived the Great Deportation and continued documenting the tragic events of the ghetto until his capture by the Nazis.
In Nazi-occupied Poland, historian Emanuel Ringelblum, who headed the Jewish Self-Help Society (Jewish relief organization) in Warsaw, asked Rachel Auerbach to organize a public kitchen. Once Jews were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, public kitchens supplied the hungry masses with a daily meal. Auerbach heeded Ringelblum's request. She also became a member of the clandestine Oyneg Shabbes (“Joy of the Sabbath”) Archive. In this capacity she documented the sights she encountered in her everyday work and the starvation of the Ghetto's inhabitants (approx. 450,000 people). Auerbach was one of three of the Archive's members to survive the war. She dedicated her life to the documentation of and research into the Holocaust.
In Nazi-occupied Poland, historian Emanuel Ringelblum, who headed the Jewish Self-Help Society (Jewish relief organization) in Warsaw, asked Rachel Auerbach to organize a public kitchen. Once Jews were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, public kitchens supplied the hungry masses with a daily meal. Auerbach heeded Ringelblum's request. She also became a member of the clandestine Oyneg Shabbes (“Joy of the Sabbath”) Archive. In this capacity she documented the sights she encountered in her everyday work and the starvation of the Ghetto's inhabitants (approx. 450,000 people). Auerbach was one of three of the Archive's members to survive the war. She dedicated her life to the documentation of and research into the Holocaust.
With the beginning of the Great Deportation of Warsaw Jewry to the Treblinka extermination camp, members of the clandestine Oyneg Shabbes (“Joy of the Sabbath”) Archive sought shelter for the Archive and decided that it was to be buried, despite the risks involved. Their hope was that it would one day be retrieved and serve as a testament to the murder of Polish Jewry. The archival collections included original research, testimonies and documents, newspapers, diaries, photographs, and artworks. Among those entrusted with the task of burying the Archive were two educators, Israel Lichtenstein and his wife, painter Gele Sekstein. Shortly before burying the Archives, they added their own wills, describing their lives and lamenting the fate of Europe’s Jews.
With the beginning of the Great Deportation of Warsaw Jewry to the Treblinka extermination camp, members of the clandestine Oyneg Shabbes (“Joy of the Sabbath”) Archive sought shelter for the Archive and decided that it was to be buried, despite the risks involved. Their hope was that it would one day be retrieved and serve as a testament to the murder of Polish Jewry. The archival collections included original research, testimonies and documents, newspapers, diaries, photographs, and artworks. Among those entrusted with the task of burying the Archive were two educators, Israel Lichtenstein and his wife, painter Gele Sekstein. Shortly before burying the Archives, they added their own wills, describing their lives and lamenting the fate of Europe’s Jews.