Henryk Ross

A German postcard showing the entrance to the Łódź ghetto. The sign reads “Jewish residential area—entry forbidden.” Łódź, Poland, 1940-1941.

— US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Prior to the outbreak of World War II, Henryk Ross¹ was a sports photographer. Not long after Germany invaded Poland, an area of Łódź , itself a centrally located city of Poland was closed off and sealed. Ross was forced to live in this ghetto.

Henryk Ross

Ross managed to get a job as one of the official photographers of the ghetto. Along with his colleague Mendel Grossman, Ross was in charge of producing identity and propaganda photographs for the Department of Statistics.

Due to his task, Ross had access to film and processing facilities. His task  was to show the Jews living a normal life in the ghetto. Outside of his official duties, he used his camera to produce a clandestine diary of…