Student Profile: D. Pacanowski

After typing the original name given, D. Pacanowski into the database, the only result that came up was a man named Dawid Pacanowski who was born in 1893. However, the original information given also states that the student D. Pacanowski went to the school Gymnasium and high school for boys. This school generally consisted of students between the ages of 14 and 20 during 1941, which would mean that they were likely born between 1921-1927. For this reason, it is highly unlikely that Dawid Pacanowski is the person that we are looking for. Then, we did our search again, looking for last names that sounded like Pacanowski. On this search, we found a boy named Dawid Wisniewski that was born during 1923. This birth year falls between the years that would allow this student to attend the gymansium and high school for boys, the school mentioned in the original information about this student. Due to the fact that this was the only result with a name close to D. Pacanowski that would have been able to attend the school we were looking for, we decided that this was the most likely option for the identity of the student D. Pacanowski. 

Although I found no extra information on Dawid Wisniewski, I did find some extra information on his family. For example, his father Izrael has a recorded ghetto address change to Pomorska street and apartment 40. The database also gives his occupation as a Haendler, which translates from German to English as a dealer. This means he could have been some type of merchant or other business man. The database also has his recorded death date as February 15, 1942. Soon after, Dawid's brother or other male family member Chaim (born in 1920) was deported to Chelmno on April 12, 1942. Although there is no specific record of transportation for Dawid, it is likely that he was transported to Chelmno with his brother, because of how close they were in age, unless Dawid perished beforehand. Finally, a female named Rojza (born in 1914) with the same ghetto address as Dawid, making her Dawid's possible sister, had a ghetto note that she was a Stickerin in the ghetto, which translates from German to English as an embroiderer.