Son finds pictures taken secretly by his father during Warsaw Ghetto uprising

Never-before-seen photos taken during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising have been found nearly 80 years later buried within a family collection.

Zbigniew Leszek Grzywaczewski, then a 23-year-old Polish firefighter, took his camera with him when the Nazis called them to help stop the flames engulfing buildings outside the segregated zone.

He secretly photographed Jews being led to Umschlagplatz, the holding area where the occupying German forces held them before deportation to the Treblinka death camp.

Mr Grzywaczwski’s son, Maciej Grzywaczewski, recently found negatives with the images in the collection of his father, who died in 1993.

The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews hailed the finding of the negatives, including 20 that will be published for the first time, as an important discovery.

Historians said their real value is in being the only known photographs shot during the uprising which were not taken by the Germans, and so not with the aim of bolstering Nazi propaganda.

This handout negative dated on April 20, 1943, and taken by Polish firefighter Zbigniew Leszek Grzywaczewski negative shows jewish people being evacuated from the Ghetto to Umschlagplatz during the uprising of the Warsaw ghetto in 1943, Poland. On Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, Warsaw???s Jewish history museum presented a group of photographs taken in secret during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, some of which have never been seen before, that were recently discovered in a family collection. (Z. L. Grzywaczewski/courtesy of Maciej Grzywaczewski/POLIN Museum via AP) — The negatives were taken by Polish firefighter Zbigniew Leszek Grzywaczewski (Picture: AP)

This handout negative dated on April 20, 1943, and taken by Polish firefighter Zbigniew Leszek Grzywaczewski negative shows houses that were abandoned by the Jewish population as they were evacuated being set on fire during the uprising of the Warsaw ghetto in 1943, Poland. On Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, Warsaw???s Jewish history museum presented a group of photographs taken in secret during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, some of which have never been seen before, that were recently discovered in a family collection. (Z. L. Grzywaczewski/courtesy of Maciej Grzywaczewski/POLIN Museum via AP) — They show houses that were abandoned by the Jewish population as they were evacuated (Picture: AP)

This undated handout negative taken by Polish firefighter Zbigniew Leszek Grzywaczewski negative shows the ghetto of Warsaw during the uprising of 1943, in Warsaw, Poland. On Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, Warsaw???s Jewish history museum presented a group of photographs taken in secret during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, some of which have never been seen before, that were recently discovered in a family collection. (Z. L. Grzywaczewski/courtesy of Maciej Grzywaczewski/POLIN Museum via AP) — Others show buildings in flames (Picture: AP)

They will be included in an exhibition at the POLIN museum called ‘Around Us a Sea of Fire’, opening on April 18, the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising’s outbreak.

It began on April 19, 1943, after German troops and police entered the ghetto to deport its surviving inhabitants.

Some 750 young Jewish fighters armed with just pistols and other light arms attacked a German force more than three times larger.

This handout picture shows Maciej Grzywaczewski, left, the son of Z. L. Grzywaczewski, with curator Zuzanna Schnepf-Ko??acz, as they check the negatives and pictures taken by Polish firefighter Zbigniew Leszek Grzywaczewski showing the ghetto of Warsaw during the uprising of 1943, in Gdansk, Poland, Dec. 19, 2022. On Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, Warsaw???s Jewish history museum presented a group of photographs taken in secret during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, some of which have never been seen before, that were recently discovered in a family collection. (Maciek Jazwiecki/POLIN Museum via AP) — Maciej Grzywaczewski with curator Zuzanna Schnepf-Koacz, as they check the negatives and pictures (Picture: AP)

Many used their last words to say they knew they were doomed but wanted to die at a time and place of their own choosing.

In the end, the fighters held out for nearly a month – longer than some countries managed.

It was largest uprising by Jews during World War II and the first significant urban revolt against the German occupation in Europe.

By May 16, 1943, the Germans had crushed the uprising and deported surviving ghetto residents to concentration camps.

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