Each document is preceded by a header with basic information: the date
and place of its creation, the name of the author (if known), the title and
nature of the text, and a short abstract. The footer below the document contains
information about the archive reference number and the description
and technical condition of the item. The technical description includes information
on the type of text (original or copy), the form of the document (handwritten
or typed), the writing implement, the language of the document, the
dimensions in millimetres, and the number of sheets and pages. Also included
are the characters and notes listed on the margin of the text and the postwar
notes by Hersh Wasser.
Most of the documents in this volume were written in Polish (nineteen)
and Yiddish (sixteen), six documents in both these languages, as well as one
document in Hebrew, two in Polish and Hebrew, two in Yiddish, Polish, and
Hebrew, and one in Yiddish and Hebrew.
A footnote has been added to references to all towns located on Polish territory
(according to the 1939 borders and administrative division) smaller than
the seat of the county and all towns situated outside Poland smaller than the
seat of the largest administrative units, with the name of the county or
the name of the state and often additional information facilitating the location
of the described place.
At the end of the volume we provide a glossary of terms related to Jewish
religion and culture, as well as to entries often featured in the text. The volume
is supplemented by indexes of people and places and a bibliography of
publications used when editing the texts. A list of reference numbers of published
documents has also been included.
I dedicate my work on this publication to my Teacher Małka Chaimson-
Bastomska, who was killed in the Vilnius Ghetto, and to my Teacher and
Headmistress of the Children’s Branch of the Council to Aid Jews, Irena Sendler,
who saved hundreds²⁸ of Jewish children condemned to extermination.
Ruta Sakowska and Editors of the English translation
28 According to the latest findings, Irena Sendler and Żegota saved about 500 children.
