38 | AUGUST 12 • 2021 

A

lmost 70 years after 
Anne Frank: The 
Diary of a Young Girl
was first published, The Diary 
of Rywka Lipszyc appeared on 
bookshelves to reveal the tragic 
experiences of yet another teen-
ager descending into conditions 
forced by the Holocaust.
While Anne Frank writes 
about an Amsterdam family in 
hiding together, Rywka (pro-
nounced Rivka) Lipszyc writes 
about the separation of her 
Polish family as she grapples 
with the devastation experienced 
during confinement in the Lodz 
Ghetto before being moved into 
the camps.
The information presented 
in the Lipszyc journal, found 
in Auschwitz and published by 
San Francisco’s JFCS (Jewish 
Family and Children’s Services) 
Holocaust Center in partnership 
with Lehrhaus Judaica, has been 
supplemented through an exhi-
bition developed by the Galicia 

Jewish Museum in 
Krakow, Poland: 
“The Girl in the 
Diary: Searching 
for Rywka from 
the Lodz Ghetto.
” 
Traveling the 
United States, 
the exhibition 
will be on display through Dec. 
30 at the Holocaust Memorial 
Center (HMC) in Farmington 
Hills, where visitors will view 
translated text, commentaries, 
associated artifacts and ghetto 
photographs taken in secret and 
including images of girls close in 
age to Rywka. 
To expand on the diary 
contents and the ghetto envi-
ronment, there will be a talk 
Wednesday, Sept. 1, by Derek 
Hastings, Oakland University 
associate professor of history.

LOVE OF JUDAISM
“The exhibit offers the per-
spective of an Orthodox girl 
whose devotion to God and 
faith is very visible throughout 
the entire diary,
” said Jakub 
Nowakowski, director of the 
Galicia Jewish Museum and 
exhibit curator working with a 
team. “
Although Rywka lost her 
siblings and parents, she still 
said she was thankful for being 
Jewish.
“The diary shows that the 
longing of Rywka and many oth-
ers was for Palestine, for a new 
home. There are lots we can take 
out from her story in her writing 

about 
hunger, fear and hope. What’s 
so helpful about her perspective 
is that it’s about daily living and 
the daily difficulties she faced.
”
Expert commentary explains 
and contextualizes parts of 
the diary. For instance, diary 
sections about hunger and star-
vation are joined with descrip-
tions of ghetto conditions, food 
rations and prohibitions against 
holiday celebrations. Rabbis, 
historians, psychologists, doc-
tors — all women — provide the 
additional information.
“Rywka was Orthodox, and 
her diary describes spending 
time among girlfriends and 
women,
” Nowakowski said. 
“There are no men other than 
her brothers and father in the 
text. Because we wanted to 
honor this very special environ-
ment, all the other voices in this 
exhibition are from women.
“There are sensitivities in 
her diary that are missing in 
the texts created by men, who 
are focusing on politics and the 
situation. Entries coming from 
men are more precise in terms 
of numbers and information. 
Rywka notes her feelings and 

emotions, which are missing in 
the diaries created by men.
”

LODZ GHETTO ARTIFACTS
Artifacts on display, assembled 
from the Jewish Historical 
Institute in Warsaw and the 
United States Holocaust 
Memorial Museum in 
Washington, D.C., include per-
sonal items of those in the ghet-
to, such as children’s shoes made 
in a Lodz workshop, as well as 
newspapers and maps. 
The traveling exhibit is sup-
plemented by materials supplied 
by local Lodz Ghetto survivors. 
An anonymous donor provided 
German sewing needles used by 
Jews making textiles and leather 
goods for Germans in ghetto 
workshops. A Polish family 
photo album was donated by the 
late Miriam Zack Garvil, who 
resettled in Ann Arbor. 
“We always try to bring a 
Michigan element into our 

ARTS&LIFE
EXHIBIT

HMC exhibit documents the 
faith and fate of an Orthodox 
girl from the Lodz Ghetto.

Anne Frank’s Polish 
Counterpart

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

will be on display through Dec. 
30 at the Holocaust Memorial 

about 
hunger, fear and hope. What’s 

A page from Rywka Lipszyc’s 
diary. The exhibit will feature 
reproductions, enlargements 
and translated sections of 
Rywka’s diary.

Details
“The Girl in the Diary: 
Searching for Rywka from 
the Lodz Ghetto” will 
be on display through 
Dec. 30 at the Holocaust 
Memorial Center in 
Farmington Hills. Free 
with admission ($5-$8). 
Derek Hastings will speak 
at 7 p.m. Wednesday, 
Sept. 1. $10 Nonmembers. 
(248) 553-2400. 
holocaustcenter.org. 

