When I Grow Up — The Wartime Diary of Rywka Lipszyc

Her Story

She Left No Photograph.
Only Her Words.

No photograph of Rywka Lipszyc has ever been found. We know her only through the diary she kept in the Lodz Ghetto — a 14-year-old orphan writing about faith, hunger, family, and the refusal to stop hoping.

Sealed inside the ghetto with 160,000 Jews, Rywka turned to her diary as a lifeline — recording her emunah under unbearable pressure, her longing for her parents, and her determination to build a future she might never see.

"I must be strong and brave... I must have hope, for without hope, what is life?"
— Rywka Lipszyc, Lodz Ghetto, 1944

In Her Own Words

From Rywka's Diary

I'm grateful to Hashem three times over, even four, for giving me the opportunity to believe... If it weren't for my faith, I like other people would lose my will to live... Have patience, with Hashem's help everything will be all right.

February 12, 1944

Watch

Experience Rywka's Story

The second animated short in the We Dared to Write documentary series, bringing Rywka's diary to life through animation.

Coming Soon

Teaching Resources

Bring Rywka's Story to Your Classroom

A complete curriculum designed for grades 8–12, with flexible pacing for a single class period or a full unit.

Digital Learning Module

8 interactive sections · 60–90 min

Interactive diary exploration, thematic analysis, knowledge checks, and guided reflections — all browser-based.

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Student Workbook

32 pages · Print-ready

Primary sources, diary excerpts, archival photographs, analytical frameworks, and a culminating essay with rubric.

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Teacher's Guide

32 pages · 6 mini-lectures · 3 pacing paths

Page-by-page teaching notes, mini-lectures, learning structures, enrichment activities, and flexible unit plans.

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Part of a Larger Story

The We Dared to Write Series

Rywka is one of six young diarists whose stories are brought to life in the We Dared to Write documentary series — each told through their own animated short in a distinct visual style.