Leszek Grzywaczewski photographs

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

Leszek Grzywaczewski was a firefigher in Warsaw, Poland. He and his unit were called to the burning Warsaw ghetto, but were not allowed to intervene. They were ordered to protect buildings outside the ghetto, but to stand by and watch the Jewish ghetto burn. His family saved a number of Jews including Janina Laks and her mother-in-law Halina Laks. 

Leszek Grzywaczewski photographs 

folder 1 

The collection consists of photographs depicting the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943 including burning buildings, Polish firefighters, German SS officers, and captured Jews being marched down Nowolipie Street prior to deportation. Also included is one post-war photograph depicting Hungarian troops preparing to execute Lajos Remenyi-Schneller, who was tried and convicted in 1946 of collaborating with the Nazis. All the Warsaw photographs were taken by Leszek Grzywaczewski, a Polish firefighter whose unit was called to the fire, but not allowed to intervene with buildings inside the ghetto. 

The collection is arranged as a single series.