Object numberM2019/065:001
DescriptionPoesie or autograph book, with entries from family and friends, Poland, 1905 - 1906, belonging to Helena Tabanski.
Helena, born in Warsaw, was married to Abram Tabanski, born in Russia. Abram studied dentistry in Odessa before moving to Warsaw in the late 1800s. Though being Jewish was part of their identity, they lived as secular Jews in a non-Jewish area of Warsaw. They had two children, Irena (born circa1910) and Kristina (known as Krysia) (born 1915). Helena raised her children to be polite, respectful and moral. She was a loving and selfless mother.
When the Warsaw ghetto was completed, she and her family were already living in the small ghetto. Warsaw ghetto was the largest of all the Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Europe during World War II, established by the German authorities in November 1940. Over 400,000 Jews were imprisoned there, barely subsisting on meagre food rations.
Abram helped distribute food to poverty-stricken Jews. He eventually caught Typhus and died 23 October 1943. The family was moved into the large ghetto. Helena was living with her daughters and 5-year-old grandchild Wlodus (son of Irena) and other families in a tiny apartment. In March 1943 Helena was deported to Treblinka where she was murdered. Krysia’s husband Michael Ilutowicz arranged for her to escape from the ghetto. A Polish Catholic family - Vitold and Maryla Pac and their baby Teresa, and Wanda Pac (Vitold’s sister) - sheltered her for two years.
In April 1943, Irena and Wlodus were deported to Majdanek where they were murdered. Michael was sent to a forced labour camp, and was later executed by a firing squad. The sole survivor of the family, Krysia left for Australia in November 1948. In Sydney she met Izaac Turek; they married on 30 November 1949 in the Central Synagogue, Bondi Junction.
The poesie book is all that remains of her mother.
Helena, born in Warsaw, was married to Abram Tabanski, born in Russia. Abram studied dentistry in Odessa before moving to Warsaw in the late 1800s. Though being Jewish was part of their identity, they lived as secular Jews in a non-Jewish area of Warsaw. They had two children, Irena (born circa1910) and Kristina (known as Krysia) (born 1915). Helena raised her children to be polite, respectful and moral. She was a loving and selfless mother.
When the Warsaw ghetto was completed, she and her family were already living in the small ghetto. Warsaw ghetto was the largest of all the Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Europe during World War II, established by the German authorities in November 1940. Over 400,000 Jews were imprisoned there, barely subsisting on meagre food rations.
Abram helped distribute food to poverty-stricken Jews. He eventually caught Typhus and died 23 October 1943. The family was moved into the large ghetto. Helena was living with her daughters and 5-year-old grandchild Wlodus (son of Irena) and other families in a tiny apartment. In March 1943 Helena was deported to Treblinka where she was murdered. Krysia’s husband Michael Ilutowicz arranged for her to escape from the ghetto. A Polish Catholic family - Vitold and Maryla Pac and their baby Teresa, and Wanda Pac (Vitold’s sister) - sheltered her for two years.
In April 1943, Irena and Wlodus were deported to Majdanek where they were murdered. Michael was sent to a forced labour camp, and was later executed by a firing squad. The sole survivor of the family, Krysia left for Australia in November 1948. In Sydney she met Izaac Turek; they married on 30 November 1949 in the Central Synagogue, Bondi Junction.
The poesie book is all that remains of her mother.
Production date 1905 - 1906
Object nameautograph books
Dimensions
- width: 130.00 mm
height: 200.00 mm
depth: 20.00 mm
Language
- Polish
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Yvonne Haber