Buchbesprechung
Our Work - our Hope - Lodz Ghetto 1940 - 1945
Stefan Petriuk , D-24977 Langballigholz
Manfred Schulze , D-10961 Berlin
Historical documentation of postal and financial relationships in the Ghetto of Lodz
263 pages including the catalog section and abbreviated versions in English and in Polish (65 pages), approximate by 200 illustrations including over 50 in color, A-4 dimensions (21 x 27,5 cm), color binding, issued 1995, ISBN 3-928277-65-0. Single copies can be bought at the special, reduced price of 45 € (including shipurent) from the authors by sending an Eurocheck to:
Manfred Schulze, Blücher Strasse 57 a , D-10961 Berlin
Tel. (Germany = 0049) 030 6929655 Fax: (Germany = 0049) 030 6925375

Review of the book
This work is of a specialized nature. It is an attempt to gather the entire knowledge in the area of the postal history of the Lodz Ghetto, and particularly in the areas of philately and munizmatics.
In presenting their results, the authors are considering the numerous publications on this subject which have appeared mainly in Poland and have enriched them with results from further studies which became possible thanks to the use of perhaps the largest collection concerned with the Lodz Ghetto. They present numerous photographs and illustrations never before published, they make possible the recognition of connections and situations in the Ghetto which, 50 years after taking place, did not lose anything in their meaning and expression.
Basic historic facts are presented in the first chapter which describe the organization and the functioning of the Ghetto and its mail.
Then the authors discuss the German forced labor camps from the Lodz Ghetto and then describe the financial and currency system. The fourth part deals with postamrks in a detailed and clear manner and the fifth chapter with postage stamps.
The readeor will certainly appreciate the high quality of reproductions which in the case of philatelic and numizmatic items are in color. Each illustration contains a detailed caption.
For collectors interested in postal history, for historians , and in particular for victims of the Second World War and for their descendants this publication which aspires to be encyclopedic, issued without economic restrictions which should not apply in such a case, resembles a chapter of a sad past which should not be forgotten.
In the same seure this work is of a large educational value with the result that it should be placed in libraries, in the hands of persons who are concerned with history, and also in the applicable places of learning.
Fascist structures leave traces which are presented here concisely. This book adds to the preservation of these memories.
This discussion of the book is released to be used and publicised.