AUGUST 12 • 2021 | 39
space where we are allowed so
we can focus on survivors who
ended up in Michigan,
” said Mark
Mulder, HMC manager of cura-
torial affairs who partnered with
the Special Events Department to
choose the exhibit.
“I am a great admirer of the
Galicia Jewish Museum, so I was
familiar with this exhibit. I saw it
on the web from there and also
from Milwaukee. It’s a perspective
that we don’t see as often, specif-
ically that of a religiously obser-
vant young woman, and I appre-
ciate the interpretation of women
to keep that perspective. That’s a
powerful and unique approach to
Holocaust storytelling.
”
Numerous text panels give
detailed outlines of the signifi-
cance of the ghetto, the signifi-
cance of what happened to Rywka
and interviews with her cousins
who are still alive. The documen-
tation goes to the last-known
reference of Rywka and the paper
trail relatives followed for her.
“The most heart-wrenching
part is the story of her cousins,
”
Mulder said. “They assumed she
had passed until research on her
began in earnest relatively recent-
ly, and there’s a very profound
emotional impact.
”
Hastings, whose talk also will
be available digitally, will cover
the historical background and
context of the Lodz Ghetto,
everyday life in the ghetto and the
broader historical significance of
central themes raised in the diary.
“I have read Rykwa’s diary
multiple times and read exten-
sively about the exhibition,
” said
Hastings, a frequent HMC speak-
er who teaches courses on Nazi
Germany and the Holocaust in
addition to writing two books:
Catholicism and the Roots of
Nazism and Nationalism in
Modern Europe.
“My presentation will strive
to provide broader historical
contextualization,
” Hastings said.
“Hopefully, that will deepen and
enrich attendees’ understanding
of Rykwa’s experiences.
”
TOP TO BOTTOM: Baby shoes manufactured at a sewing
workshop in the Lodz Ghetto. A thimble found on the site
of the Kulmhof (Chelmo) Death Camp. An emblem from a
sewing workshop in the Lodz Ghetto.
PHOTOS COURTESY HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER
CEGESOMA, CENTRE FOR HISTORICAL
RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION ON WAR AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
List of Bergen-
Belsen
Concentration
Camp inmates
liberated by
the British
army. Rywka
Lipszyc is
on the list.
Emaciated
and ill, she
likely died
soon after
liberation.
“The most heart-wrenching
part is the story of her cousins,
”
CEGESOMA, CENTRE FOR HISTORICAL
RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION ON WAR AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
List of Bergen-
Belsen
Concentration
Camp inmates
liberated by
the British
army. Rywka
Lipszyc is
on the list.
Emaciated
and ill, she
likely died
soon after
liberation.