Diary of Julius Feldman

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Accession Number: NEKHC:2013.47.1

Object: Diary

Physical Description: Paperback book; thin paper, some discolouration; writing in pencil, some fading. Restrictions on this item.

Information: This diary was written by Julius Feldman. Julius was held in Kraków Ghetto and Płaszów Concentration Camp. The diary ends mid-sentence, Julius did not survive the Holocaust, and would have been around nineteen years old when he was murdered. 

Further Information:

This diary was written by Julius Feldman, and was donated by Gisela Feldman. Julius was born on 24 December 1923, in Kraków, Poland. The family lived on Kingi Street, in the Podgórze district of Kraków.

In 1943, Julius began writing a diary-cum-memoir which details experiences from his life before and during the Holocaust, and the Second World War. Although beginning to write in the 1940s, Julius records events from August 1939 and recalls the Nazi invasion of Poland. He was the only Jewish student in his class at school, and recalls the effects of increasing anti-Jewish measures and persecution of Jewish people.

The writing records events in Kraków Ghetto, and provides a poignant and important record of Julius and others’ experiences during the Holocaust. His account was written over two months, during the final weeks of Kraków Ghetto’s existence and during his incarceration in Płaszów Concentration Camp. Julius was risking his life by keeping a record of events, and kept it carefully concealed. The diary ends mid-sentence on 11 April 1943, it is not clear what happened at this time. Julius was murdered during the Holocaust, by unknown means on an unknown date. He would have been around 19 years old.

His writings were found after the end of the Second World War, hidden in the wall of the building where Julius had been a forced labourer. The manuscript was saved and eventually given to Julius’ cousin, Oscar and his wife Gisela. Recognising its significance, Gisela worked tirelessly to ensure the diary was published and it is now available as a book.