Before the German occupation of Poland, Itzhak Katzenelson (1885-1944) contributed greatly to the vibrant Jewish culture in Lodz, Poland, through establishing a Jewish school, a Hebrew theater company, writing poetry, plays, childrens’ books, and Hebrew textbooks. While in the Warsaw Ghetto, Katzenelson continued to write, composing more than 40 works, most of which were written in Yiddish. This detailed biography of Itzhak Katzenelson tells of his many cultural and literary accomplishments before and during the Holocaust.
Here is brief timeline of Katzenelson’s life during the Holocaust:
- 1939— After hiding in Lodz for three months, Katzenelson escaped to Warsaw, where he taught Hebrew literature and biblical studies in the Warsaw ghetto’s underground secondary school. He wrote consistently for the underground press, while establishing the movement’s drama group.
- Ghetto Life: Katzenelson wrote more than 40 works in Yiddish while in the ghetto, focusing on the suffering of the Jews in the ghetto as common theme in his poetry.
- 1942— Katzenelson’s wife Hanna and two younger sons, Ben-Tsiyon and Binyamin, were deported to Treblinka.
- 1943— Katzenelson and his older son fought with the Jewish Fighting Organization in the first uprising in January.
- 1943— Katzenelson escaped to the Aryan side of Warsaw and obtained a Honduran identity document.
- 1943— Katzenelson is imprisoned in a German detention camp in Vittel, France, where he spent most of his time writing. Here he composed ‘Song of the Murdered Jewish People,’ lamenting the suffering and destruction of the Jewish people and praising their unshakable faith.
- 1944— Katzenelson and his son Tsevi are sent to Auschwitz and murdered there by the Nazis.