us-005578-irn60303-irn4095
scope and content: Treadle sewing machines like this Singer model were used by Jewish forced laborers in Łódź Ghetto in German occupied Poland from May 1940 to summer 1944. This mass produced machine was very durable and affordable. Łódź was occupied by Germany a week after the September 1939 invasion of Poland. It was renamed Litzmannstadt and, in February 1940, the Jewish population, about 160,000 people, was confined to a small sealed off ghetto. All residents had to work and many were forced laborers in ghetto factories. Eventually, nearly 100 factories were in operation. The major ones produced textiles, including uniforms for the German Army. Due to the severe overcrowding and scarce food, disease and starvation were common. The Judenrat [Jewish Council] administered the ghetto for the Germans. Judenrat chairman Mordechai Rumkowski thought hard work and high outputs would preserve the ghetto. But in January 1942, mass deportations to Chelmno killing center began; half the residents were murdered by the end of the year. In summer 1944, Łódź, the last ghetto in Poland, was destroyed and the remaining Jews were sent to Chelmno and Auschwitz-Birkenau killing centers.
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-ghettos/513
has end date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1945-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
history: The sewing machine table was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.
is or was included in: us-005578-irn60303
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: Heavy, black painted, cast iron, treadle powered sewing machine attached to the right side of a rectangular base plate. The L-shaped machine has a vertical body with a horizontal arm that extends to the left, suspended over the base plate. On the top right of the body are a spoked wheel and thick pulley disc. The levers, discs, and wheels of a bobbin winder are screwed to the base, with an adjustment lever at the front. The arm has 2 spool pins on top and a rectangular sewing head, with face plate, tension levers, and thread guides at the left end. Two vertical rods pass through the head with a needle on the bottom of one and an L-shaped presser foot on the other. A semi-circular slotted plate is fixed in the base below the needle. To the left of the plate is a cutout with a rectangular insert. A circular shuttle mount attaches to the base underside. There are 2 mounting lugs on the back to attach the machine to a table. The machine has gold and bronze painted floral and scrollwork designs with a gryphon, pyramid and sun. The user controls the motion and speed of the machine by pressing down on a pivoting treadle connected to a sewing machine table. This motion turns a large spoked wheel on the table, which is connected to a smaller spoked wheel and pulley on the machine by a treadle belt. The belt turns the pulley and shifts the interior mechanism, which pushes the needle up and down, pulling 2 threads, top and bottom, to create a lockstitch.
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn60303-irn4095/alternateIDs/1
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn60303-irn4095/acquisitions/1
has beginning date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1920-01-01
has record set type: Item
has end date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1920-12-31
history: Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski was born on February 27, 1877, in Ilino, Russia, to Reuven Rumkowski. His brother, Josef, was born on August 8, 1884. He relocated to Łódź, Poland, in the early 1900s, and worked as a merchant and velvet manufacturer before beginning a career as an insurance salesman. In the early 1920s, with funding from the Joint Distribution Committee and other business entities, he opened an orphanage in Helenowek, a Łódź district. He was heavily involved in local Jewish affairs, served on the board of the local Zionist party, and was a member of the Jewish Council. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and by September 8, they occupied Łódź. They appointed an Ältestenrat [Council of Elders] and made 62-year-old Mordechai the Älteste der Juden [Elder of the Jews], a position which gave him a wide range of powers over the Jewish community. He was ordered to choose 31 prominent Jews. On November 11, the Germans arrested the 31 members and they were taken to Radogoszcz prison; eight were released and the rest were murdered. Mordechai formed a second Ältestenrat, which had little influence on Jewish affairs. The Germans established the Łódź ghetto on February 8, 1940. It was a sealed ghetto, surrounded by barbed wire fencing. Inhabitants were not permitted to leave, except for a small number of forced laborers. This led to overcrowding, starvation, illness, and unsanitary living conditions. Mordechai was appointed the sole administer and answered to Hans Biebow, the head of the ghetto administration. Biebow controlled all activity in the ghetto; he made a profit on slave labor, confiscated property, organized transports to Chelmno killing center, and was active in the destruction of the ghetto. Mordechai was responsible for providing heat, housing, work, food, clothing, and health care. He instituted social programs, issued postage stamps and “Rumkies”, ghetto money printed with his name and signature, performed marriages, and made numerous public sp…
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
identifier: irn4095
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
record resource extent: overall: Height: 11.500 inches (29.21 cm) | Width: 16.250 inches (41.275 cm) | Depth: 7.375 inches (18.733 cm)
title: Singer style treadle sewing machine table of the type used in Łódź Ghetto
type: RecordSet