Browse Items (226 total)

The Synagogue on Zachodna Street, which was given the name Wilker Shul, was the first Jewish sacral structure to be erected after the establishment of a "Jewish district." This synagogue, built between 1875 and 1878, housed the largest talmudic…

In this Bałuty courtyard, several children are having fun filling enameled buckets with water from a pump. Not far from the buckets there stands a large barrel—such barrels were used for making sour cabbage and storing salted herring.

A winter street scene in Bałuty. Several people are entering a gate built into the wooden plank-fencing. A company of women and men stand near a small snowdrift. The figures in this picture are dressed warmly—however, whereas most of the women are…

In the winter time, Łódź residents happily made use of the ice rink on Helenów Pond. In 1902 entry to the ice rink cost 15 kopecks for adults and 5 kopecks for children, a truly affordable price for this brand of entertainment.

Here we see a class in session at the school associated with the Poznański industrial plant. A large group of boys studying at the school pose for a picture alongside their teachers. The classroom furnishings—benches and a teacher's podium—are…

Many Łódź workers lost their jobs during the First World War. The material conditions in which the city's residents lived were dire. Food staples—such as bread, flour, potatoes and milk—were scarce. Prices had flown through the ceiling. The city's…

From 1916 to 1918, nearly all industrial activity in Łódź came to a standstill—there was no work to be found, food staples were in short supply, and food prices had risen to several times their former value. Many Lodzer families became destitute and…

This portrait of two Jewish women bears witness to the extent of the poverty Lodzers suffered in the World-War-I era. Though barefoot and dressed in rags, they are smiling thanks to the victuals in their baskets, which they procured for their…

A poorly dressed Jewish boy sells his wares at the market. His satisfied smile tells us he can work and has something to sell or trade.

In this photograph, we are shown a market stall specializing in fabrics. A number of men attired in gabardines mill around near the booth. One man's appearance gives away his profession—he is wearing a characteristic porter's rope across his…