Rediscovery

On September 18, 1946, Hersz Wasser, one of the rare survivors of the organization, led researchers to the site where number 68, Nowolipki Street had stood. The first part of the Archives was unearthed. The second part was only discovered much later on December 1, 1950, when reconstruction work was being done.

In spite of considerable research, the third part, which had been buried at number 34, Swietojerska Street, was never retrieved. Some 6,000 documents, totaling 35,369 pages, were exhumed. Some were damaged and had to be restored. A large number were in excellent condition. There were manuscripts and also typewritten, duplicated and printed documents, mostly in Polish and Yiddish, sometimes in Hebrew and German. The greater part is represented by information from other ghettos and the clandestine publications (mainly the press and educational documents) reporting on everyday life and programmed death.

The archives are kept in the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw and form the main body of its collections.