Home Page / Excerpts from Rywka’s Diary (chronologically)

Rywka’s story

Rywka Lipszyc was born as the first child of Yankel and Miriam. The Lipszyc family lived on Południowa Street 43 (now Rewolucji 1905 Street)

15 IV 1929
Abram Ber, Rywka’s younger brother was born

13 I 1932
Tsipora Chaya, Rywka’s younger sister was born

9 X 1933
Esther – Rywka’s youngest sister was born. She is called by her nick-name Tamarcia on the pages of Rywka’s diary

13 XI 1937
The Lipszyc family is forced to move to the ghetto. They live on Wolborska Street 22

Karta meldunkowa Rywki Lipszyc z getta łódzkiego, źródło: Archiwum Państwowe w Łodzi, zespół: Przełożony Starszeństwa Żydów w Getcie Łódzkim,

II 1940
Rywka’s father dies in the ghetto as a result of serious lungs disease and injuries after he was beaten up

2 VI 1941
Rywka’s mother dies of illness, hunger and exhaustion

8 VII 1942
Orphaned Lipszyc children get adopted by their aunt and uncle. Rywka and Tsipora live with their aunt Hadassah, uncle Yohanan and their three daughters – Esther, Mina and Chana, at 38 Wolborska Street

VII 1942
Rywka’s siblings Abram and Esther, along with their uncle Yohanan are deported from the ghetto during „Wielka Szpera”. Rywka and Tsipora remain in the ghetto

IX 1942
Aunt Hadassah dies. Rywka and Tsipora are adopted by their 20 year old cousin Esther.

11 lipca 1943
First entry in Rywka’s Diary

3 X 1943
Last entry in Rywka’s Diary

12 IV 1944
Rywka, Tsipora and their three cousins, Esther, Chana and Mina get deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Tsipora is murdered in the gas chamber.

VIII 1944
Rywka, Esther, Chana and Mina are transferred to Christianstadt labor camp (sub-camp of Gross-Rosen)

IX 1944 (?)
Rywka, Esther, Chana and Mina are taken to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in the Death March

II 1945 (?)
Rywka, Ester and Mina are liberated by British troops in Bergen Belsen. Chana dies on the day of liberation

lista wyzwolonych więźniów z obozu Bergen Belsen. Na samym dole widnieje nazwisko Rywki Lipszyc. Źródło: CegeSoma, Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society.

15 IV 1945
przy ruinach krematorium III w obozie Auschwitz – Birkenau zostaje odnaleziony pamiętnik Rywki.

VI 1945
Ester and Mina are evacuated from Germany to Sweden. Rywka’s health condition does not allow her to travel with her cousins

VI 1945
Rywka is listed among the patients of hospital in Niendorf in Northern Germany

lista pacjetów przysłanych na dalsze leczenie do szpitala w Niendorf 23 lipca 1945. Widnieje na niej Rywka Lipszyc. Źródło: ITS Digital Archive, Bad Arolsen

VII 1945
The last document relating to Rywka Lipszyc – a Displaced Person registration card issued in Bergen-Belsen hospital, with Rywka’s own signature on it. Rywka’s fate remains a mystery to this day

Ostatni zachowany ślad po Rywce Lipszyc. Karta rejestracyjna DP (displaced person) czyli osoby „przemieszczonej”. Tym mianem określono osoby wyzwolone znajdujące się poza swoją ojczyzną. Źródło: ITS Digital Archive, Bad Arolsen,

10 IX 1945

Rywka’s Biography

There are thousands of memoirs and testimonies about the Holocaust – deeply harrowing records of the demise of basic rights and rules, of fight for survival, and of unimaginable suffering. Many of those accounts found in archives, museums, research centers were written by survivors after the Holocaust. The memories of survivors demonstrate what human beings are capable of while driven by murderous ideologies.