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Children of Jewish orphanage, Otwoc, Poland
- Accession Number
- 2004-5-39
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2004-5-39
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Date
- 1945-1949
- Scope and Content
- The records include 23 case files documenting orphans who survived the Holocaust. They were all inmates of the orphanage in Otwoc, Poland. The case files were likely sent to a Jewish organization in Toronto who found local sponsors to support the individual orphans. At the bottom of each case file includes the name of the Toronto sponsors, which ranged from individuals to labour unions and women's auxiliaries. The file also includes English translations for each file (since the information is all in Polish), along with thank you letters from the children to their sponsors written in Yiddish. Photographs of the children are attached to the case files.
- Custodial History
- The case files had been in the custody of Estelle Tambak, a Harlem, New York teacher and activist who had travelled to Poland to volunteer at the orphanage in the late 1940s. All translation work was done by Ann Szedlecki (1925-2005), a Holocaust survivor from Lodz who had herself been orphaned after the war. This custodial history has been confirmed by Miriam Borden, the granddaughter of Ann Szedlecki, who has a photograph depicting Ann and Estelle viewing the records within this file.
- Use Conditions
- Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing the records.
- Source
- Archival Accessions