Rumkowski and the Orphans of Lodz [Paperback]

Lucille Eichengreen (Author), Rebecca Camhi Fromer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1998

Chaim Rumkowski, the Nazi-appointed head of the Jewish Council in the Lodz Ghetto, had absolute authority over selections and deportations. He also used his power to molest children in the Lodz orphanage and outside. This quiet, devastating memoir by a Holocaust survivor documents her own abuse by Rumkowski and the accounts she heard from many others who suffered at his hands.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Chaim Rumkowski, the Nazi-appointed leader of the Jewish community in the Polish ghetto of Lodz, has long been a controversial figure, despised by some as a collaborator for his role in the deportation of Jews from the ghetto. Eichengreen offers what appears to be an insurmountable case against Rumkowski. Soon after the teenage Eichengreen (From Ashes to Life) was deported to the Lodz ghetto in October 1941, she was told that Rumkowski, the ghetto's Jewish liaison to the Nazis, was alleged to have been a child molester before the war. In the following years, she learned, both from other ghetto residents and firsthand, that these accusations were true. The sexual abuse detailed here in spare, chilling prose is just the most egregious of the material and emotional hardships of ghetto life that made human decency virtually impossible. The author cogently describes the exploitation and deceit that infested intimate relationships in the ghetto. At times, her pillorying of Rumkowski's feeble attempts to save a few Jews appears unfair. She ridicules his apparently understandable statement that, if he were able to save a hundred Jews, his efforts would have been worthwhile, with the comment, "The enormity and monstrosity of Rumkowski's words appalled me." But the weight of the evidence she has marshaled, which includes testimony she gathered after the war from other survivors, will remove from most readers any sympathy they might otherwise have had for Rumkowski and his difficult position. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In broad form, Eichengreen's memoir differs little from that of many other Holocaust victims. It is, however, distinguished by its focus on the accusation that she and a number of other boys and girls were victims of sexual abuse by Chaim Rumkowski, the controversial Jewish leader of the Lodz ghetto. Rumkowski is regarded as either a megalomaniac collaborator or a man who probably saved thousands of Jews from extermination; Eichengreen weighs in on the former side by linking her story with those of other victims of his pedophilia. Although the book is well written, it is inevitably based largely on reminiscences and follows an orderly process that the reality may not have enjoyed. Recommended for larger public libraries and Judaica collections.AFrederic Krome, Jacob Rader Marcus Ctr. of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 125 pages
• Publisher: Mercury House (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156279115X
• ISBN-13: 978-1562791155
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,675,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read, February 9, 2008

By 

Nicholas A. Bunge "Student" (Honolulu, HI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rumkowski and the Orphans of Lodz (Paperback)

This book is an easy and short read. My professor assighned this book to read and Im glad he did. The author does an excellent job of telling the reader her story of torment, abuse, and neglect at the hands of the Nazis and their puppet Rumkowski.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Different View, February 25, 2007

By 

Arlyne Euler "HISTORY BUFF" (THOMPSONS STATION, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rumkowski and the Orphans of Lodz (Paperback)

A good description of the terrible conditions in the Lodz Ghetto. But, most importantly, a view of Rumkowski that I have never read before. A difficult man in a very difficult time. Only God can judge.