Koninski, and educators from other institutions accompanied them on their
last journey, to Treblinka. In October 1942, some 840 children under the age
of 9 and about 7,500 children aged 10–19 remained in the ghetto, and despite
individual attempts to offer schooling, organised educational activities ended
in July 1942.
Ruta Sakowska
Editors’ note
The editorial organising principles for documents in this volume are based on
the publishing instructions developed by Tadeusz Epsztein specifically for the
whole series Archiwum Ringelbluma. Konspiracyjne Archiwum Getta Warszawy
(Ringelblum Archive. The Underground Archive of the Warsaw ghetto).
The documents in this volume are divided into seven categories. The first
two – “Children on the fate of their families. Questionnaires” and “Children
on the war and everyday life in the ghetto” – present life in the ghetto from
the perspective of the youngest. The two subsequent sections – “Adults about
children” and “Teachers and counsellors” – in turn present the reality of clandestine
education in the Warsaw ghetto that emerges from accounts, reports,
and other documents written by adults, usually the children’s care providers.
Another grouping is “Events with the participation of children. Invitations”,
which mainly contains invitations and tickets for various types of events.
A separate distinction was made for “Reader for Warsaw ghetto schools”,
a textbook compiled by Natan Smolar and Beniamin Wirowski, and “Study
on Ghetto Children and Teaching” by Natan (Nusn) Koninski. Within each
part, the documents are arranged chronologically.
In the published texts, spelling and punctuation have been modernised,
and obvious errors have been corrected. Abbreviations and reconstructed text
fragments are provided in square brackets.
Treblinka. See ARG II 261/4 (Ring. II/231), ARG II 261/10 (Ring. II/231), ARG II 265/6 (Ring. II/236/1); Archiwum Ringelbluma. vol. 29a: Pisma Emanuela Ringelbluma z bunkra, p. 229; Warsaw Ghetto: Guide to the Perished City, p. 319; M. Kicińska, Pani Stefa (Wołowiec 2015). A selection of her texts was published as Słowo do dzieci i wychowawców, selected and edited by B. Puszkin, M. Ciesielska (Warszawa 2004).
