"Extermination of Polish Jews – Album of Pictures" - Central Historical Commission in Poland - Lodz, 1945. A Rare ...

"Extermination of Polish Jews – Album of Pictures" - Central Historical Commission in Poland - Lodz, 1945. A Rare and Important Documentary Album.

This gut-wrenching photographic album is one of the most important visual publications ever released documenting in stages the horrific atrocities of the Nazis against the Jews, and the destruction of European Jewry immediately after they occurred. It was published in Lodz immediately after the Holocaust.

252 black-and-white photos (on 104 plates) show the destruction of Eastern European Jewry in its various stages - persecution, anti-Semitic propaganda, humiliation and torture in the ghettos, deportation, and extermination in the death camps - as documented by the Germans themselves. "The practice of commemorating their terrible act through photographs is extremely prevalent. This malicious 'affection' of the murderers has provided us with many valuable documents. The photographic material that has come into our hands serves as a valuable document for a complete description of the crime" (Introduction to the Album).

Many of the photographs appearing in the album were found in possession of the Germans themselves. They were filmed at the scenes of their crimes and then given to private photographers for development. The Germans warned about returning the photo plates and copying them, but the photographers, knowing clearly of the danger involved, put themselves at risk and kept copies of the images.

The photos are accompanied by an introduction by Gershon Taffet, and a short text by Dr. Phillip Friedman that briefly introduces the Holocaust documentation project, of which the album is a part.

The book has been preserved in very good condition. It is bound in an original black cardboard cover, on which the name of the book is printed in English and Polish. Texts in English, Polish, French, Russian and Yiddish.

[21], 104, [15] page. 34 cm.