Those deported from the Łódź ghetto to the Chełmno (Kulmhof) death camp in March 1942 were mainly Polish Jews, in particular persons charged with various minor offences (such as stealing bread) and individuals who relied or had recently relied on welfare support.[1]
In March 1942, the suicide rate increased amongst the ghetto residents. The Chronicle of the Łódź Ghetto explained this in the following manner: "… universal mood of depression and panic that reigned in March as a result of the resettlement action provided fertile soil for acts of desperation."[2] Almost every other day, Polish Jews committed suicide. Jews who had previously been deported from Western Europe to the Łódź ghetto also chose to take their own lives. Among those who committed suicide on March 15 was a sixty-three-year-old woman, J.A., originally from Prague, who jumped from a fourth-story attic window of an Old People's Home. She had been, as The Chronicle reports, "exhibiting signs of a nervous breakdown, caused by the most recent ordeals."[3]
After being notified of their deportation, many people applied for exemption. Documents preserved at the Archiwum Państwowe w Łodzi (Polish State Archive in Łódź) reveal that hundreds of requests for exemption were submitted, together with letters of support from employers and physicians. However, most of the applications were rejected. The exemption letters not only provide us with some of the names of the victims who were deported from the Łódź ghetto to the Chełmno death camp, they also illustrate the heightened fear and anxiety surrounding the deportations.[4]...