Object numberM1992/012
DescriptionWork Permit certifying that Stan Grosman (the donor), using the alias Stanislaw Gozdzik, is employed in the Riga branch of the Schmitt & Junk construction firm. The permit was issued on the 1 July 1944 and was valid until 30 September 1944. It features a passport size photo of the subject stapled in the bottom left-hand corner. The document bears a forged signature, indicating that the permit has been further extended until the 20 October 1944.
Stan Grosman (Stanislaw Gozdzik) acknowledges his instinct for survival. In Tomaszow-Mazowiecki Ghetto, Poland, he operated as a black marketeer for three years. When the Ghetto was liquidated in May 1943, Stan was deported to Blizyn Forced Labour Camp, a satellite of Majdanek death camp. He befriended Ignac Bierzynski, who proposed a promising plan of escape. In December both youths fled, made their way through the forests to Szydiowiec and travelled to Warsaw on the roof of a train. In Warsaw, Stan hid for several days in a toilet of an apartment block, while Ignac established contact with the underground movement through which he purchased false birth certificates and identity cards for them both.
Through a friend working as a secretary for Schmitt & Junk construction firm, Stan applied for a job using his false papers. He travelled to Riga in Latvia with Germans and Poles, where he worked as a joiner for eight months, receiving this work permit from Schmitt & Junk. While there, Stan made contact with Jews on a building site not far from the Nazi concentration camp Kaiserwald, and through the foreman of the building site, managed to smuggle goods and letters in and out of the camp. Later on, he helped the foreman, Harry Solowieczik and his wife Etta, to escape.
Stan Grosman (Stanislaw Gozdzik) acknowledges his instinct for survival. In Tomaszow-Mazowiecki Ghetto, Poland, he operated as a black marketeer for three years. When the Ghetto was liquidated in May 1943, Stan was deported to Blizyn Forced Labour Camp, a satellite of Majdanek death camp. He befriended Ignac Bierzynski, who proposed a promising plan of escape. In December both youths fled, made their way through the forests to Szydiowiec and travelled to Warsaw on the roof of a train. In Warsaw, Stan hid for several days in a toilet of an apartment block, while Ignac established contact with the underground movement through which he purchased false birth certificates and identity cards for them both.
Through a friend working as a secretary for Schmitt & Junk construction firm, Stan applied for a job using his false papers. He travelled to Riga in Latvia with Germans and Poles, where he worked as a joiner for eight months, receiving this work permit from Schmitt & Junk. While there, Stan made contact with Jews on a building site not far from the Nazi concentration camp Kaiserwald, and through the foreman of the building site, managed to smuggle goods and letters in and out of the camp. Later on, he helped the foreman, Harry Solowieczik and his wife Etta, to escape.
Production placeRiga, Latvia
Production date 1944-07-01
Object namework cards
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- whole width: 197.00 mm
height: 138.00 mm
Language
- German
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mr Stan Grosman