Student Profile: Adam Kwasniewski

I think both entries of Adam Ber Kwasnieski from the Lodz Ghetto Inhabitants Records and the Lodz Ghetto Volume Five records are of the same person. The former details that Adam was born on May 15, 1930, and that he was a student living at Matrosengasse Street 19 in apartment 13. The record then provides the information that Adam was probably moved to Veit-stoss-strasse Street 10 on August 28, 1942.  The Lodz Ghetto Volume Five’s Adam Kwasnieski  is listed as having been born two years later in 1932 which could have been a mistake. It furthermore states Adam was residing within the same street (Veit-stross-strasse Street 10), but offers more information in specifying apartment 15. Thus, I believe that both Adam Ber Kwasnieski’s within each record are one and the same.

Adam Ber Kwasniewski’s Labor Card is highly interesting in that it states his birth date as May 15, 1931 when Lodz Ghetto Records have him down as being born in 1930 and the Lodz Ghetto Supplementary Five Records say that he was born in 1932. We can probably assume that he was indeed born on May 15 between those years, but might have had to lie on the year in order to receive a work carder.

               Adam’s Labor card was a bit hard to read since a lot of the writing was pretty faded. From what I could garner from the front of the card was that his work number was 76000, and it was issued while he lived in Matrosengasse Street 19 Apartment 13. He worked as the Bauabteilung, which was a building department located on Steinmetzgasse Street 15 as a student apprentice. The back of his labor card provides the information that Adam was a male student who was 13 years old as of January 1, 1943. Also, that he had been working since November 15, 1942.

              In addition, I believe I have found Adam’s parents. Both Szlama and Bela Kwasniewski, like Adam, are both listed in the Lodz Ghetto Inhabitatants Records and the Lodz Ghetto Records Volume Five. Like Adam, Szlama and Bela both lived on Matrosengasse Street 19 in apartment 13 and were moved on August 28, 1942 to Veit-stoss-strasse Street 10. Szlama Kwasniewski was born in 1902 and worked in Lodz as a “Cutter.” Bela Kwasniewski (in another record her last name is spelled “Kwasniewska”) was born in 1907.

            Adding to this note, I recently found two records VERY similar to Adam’s within the Lodz Ghetto Records. The first one has the name of “Ber Abram Kwasniewska” with the date of birth being November, 15, 1932. It states that he was a child living within Franzstrasse Street 34 Apartment 18, and that he was moved to Jerozolimska Street 8 on May, 18, 1943. The second record, with the name “Ber Abram Kwasniewski,” also has a birth date of May 15, 1932. It states that he was a student who had his address changed from Cranachstrasse Street 28 Apartment 4 to Franzstrasse Street 34 on July 25, 1944. However, I have not yet seen if there are any additional records of his parents being with him during these moves or of what could have possibly happened to them.

         Moreover, there is another similar record within the Lodz Ghetto Inhabitants records of a boy named "Dawid Kwasniewska." He is stated as being born on October 10, 1929, and has him living at the same address as Adam within Franzstrasse Street 34 Apartment 18. On May 18, 1943 he is moved to the same street, on the same day as Adam: Jerozolimska Street 8. Thus, he might be a sibling or cousin of Adam's.