Eiss Archive Comes to Poland

Mateusz Szczepaniak / English translation: Andrew Rajcher, 14 February 2019

One of the largest collections documenting the activities of Polish diplomats saving Jews during World War II, the “Eiss Archive”, has come to Poland after seventy-five years. It contains diplomats from the Polish Parliament in the Swiss city of Bern, belonging to the “Bernese Group” (also called the Aleksander Ładoś Group), which obtained passports that saved hundreds of Jews from the Holocaust. The Archive was displayed on 12th February in Warsaw in the presence of the Polish President Andrzej Duda. Before it finally reaches the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, its most valuable items will be presented in Belvedere over the coming day.

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Every hour, every day, every passport and document was important. They rescued people without considering the cost, working hand-in-hand as Poles, whether Polish or Jewish. Fellow citizens, in the sense of a simple human bond and in a fight against lawlessness and cruelty.
– Polish President Andrzej Duda

Activities of the “Bernese Group”

In 1941–1943, the “Bernese Group”, consisting of Polish diplomats and Jewish political activists, obtained passports from Latin American countries, in order to save Jews from the Holocaust. Among others, the group included Polish Consul Konstanty Rokicki (1899–1958), Polish MP Aleksander Ładoś (1891–1963), Councillor of the Polish Delegation and Deputy MP Stefan Ryniewicz (1903–1987), Attaché expert on Jewish contacts Juliusz Kühl (1913–1985), member of the World Jewish Congress and Polish MP Abraham Silberschein (1882–1951), Zurich Rabbi Chaim Eiss (1876–1943).

I had a meeting at the Polish Delegation with Mr Ryniewicz and Mr Rokicki. Both drew my attention to the fact that some people in Switzerland are involved in providing South American passports to Poles in German-occupied countries. These passports allow their holders to improve their situation. We were dealing with a real passport “black market”. These gentlemen expressed the desire that I take responsibility for this matter – wrote Abraham Silberschein.

Over a period of three years, their group, also known as “The Aleksander Łados Group”, obtained around one thousand South American passports, mainly from Paraguay, El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru and Haiti. They served to save Jews from ghettos in occupied Europe before they could be transported to extermination centres.

“Obtaining Passports”

According to an analysis conducted by the Polish Embassy in Switzerland, the assistance campaign by Polish diplomats and activists of Jewish organizations allowed about 800 people to be saved from the Holocaust. Among them were Adam Daniel Rotfeld, later to become Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Eiss Archive Comes to Poland

Documents concerning the “Bernese Group” were collected by Chaim Eiss. Following his death in November 1943, they were taken over by his descendants and transported to Israel. Over the past year, negotiations took place regarding transferring them to Poland. Polish Ambassador to Switzerland, Dr. Jakub Kumoch, who has promoted knowledge regarding the activities of his predecessors in saving Jews, helped bring the acquisition closer after seventy five years. Dr. Kumoch stressed,

Immedately following the publication of information about Ładosia and his diplomats, we managed to locate the Eiss Archive in a private family collection. It is great credit to our Honorary Consul in Zurich, Markus Blechner, that for almost a year he has been working on obtaining this collection from Chaim Eiss' family and to conovince them that its place should be in Poland, in institutions which document the Holocaust and pre-War Jewish life. The purchase of the collection was made possible thanks to the support of Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Gliński, Minister of Culture and National Heritage. I would also like to thank the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and also POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews for their commitment in obtaining this priceless collection.

Dr. Piotr Cywiński, Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, explained what the Eiss Archive contains,

The collection includes eight Paraguyan passports fabricated by Polish diplomats to save Jews, as well as unique and never-used photographs of people who were applying for such passports. It also includes the original of a list of several thousand names of Jews from ghettos whom they tried to save from the Holocaust. There are a number of documents, including correspondence between Polish diplomats and Jewish organisations. This collection also contains a list of children from Jewish orphanages. These documents constitute an extremely important collection shawoing that, on the one hand, the contemporary drama facing Polish-Jewish families and, on the other hand, the attempts to get as many people as possible out of the hellish circle of the Holocaust which was surrounding them.

Deputy Prime Minister added that, “It was our duty to recover the Eiss Archive”.

Display of Passports and Other Artefacts from the Eiss Archive

The most priceless objects from the Eiss Archive were put on display by the Pilecki Institute at Belevdere during a ceremony in which participated, among others, representatives of the State of Israel, the Polish Ministry of External Affairs, the Institute of National Remembrance and Righteous Among the Nations.

The display cases contained passports, invoices, correspondence between Chaim Eiss and Polish diplomats and between Jews in ghetto and Abraham Silberschein.

Conservators and historians from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum will catalogue the collection.

Polish President, Andrzej Duda, stated:

I hope that people from around the world will come to see this terible testimony, to hear and see this unbelieveable collection of artefacts from the unimaginable Holocaust. They will also see the contribution made by Polish diplomats and the contribution made by Poles and Jews to saving their neighbours.

Photgraphs of several items fro the Eiss Archive are presented in the gallery above.