16/06/2026
On 15 June 1940, Mordechai Rumkowski, head of the Jewish Council in the Łódź Ghetto, addressed the ghetto's residents and outlined a strategy he believed could help preserve the community: survival through labour.
Rumkowski argued that if the ghetto became indispensable to the German war effort through manufacturing and industrial work, its residents might be spared from destruction. For many, this policy represented a fragile hope in the face of worsening persecution and uncertainty.
The reality, however, was far more tragic. Despite years of forced labour and immense hardship, the Łódź Ghetto was ultimately liquidated. In 1944, tens of thousands of its remaining residents were deported to Auschwitz and Chełmno, where most were murdered.
As we reflect on this moment in history, we remember the impossible circumstances faced by Jewish communities under N**i rule and the devastating consequences of a system built on persecution and dehumanisation.
Image credit: Yad Vashem: The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Jerusalem.
