Former Warsaw Ghetto Fighter Wins Lawsuit Over Published Love Letters

Raise a Glass: Simha Rotem, 82, is a survivor of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. Image by Getty Images
WARSAW, Poland (JTA) — Former Warsaw Ghetto fighter Simcha Rotem won his case against the PWN publishing house which published his letters to his former romantic partner, Irena Gelblum.
The letters were published in Remigiusz Grzela’s book “Irena’s Choice.” PWN was ordered to apologize to Rotem and donate $5,900 to charity.
The verdict was issued by the Appeals Court in Warsaw on Friday. Two years ago the District Court in Warsaw found that there had been no violation of the law, since the daughter of Irena Gelblum had agreed to publish the letters. But the letters were written by Rotem, and he did not give his consent.
Rotem, 92, lives in Israel. He is among the last living fighters of the Jewish Combat Organization, or ŻOB, which fought in the Warsaw Ghetto. Gelblum was his partner during the war and soon after. He wrote to her letters which, without his knowledge and consent, were published in Grzela’s book. The letters included – as stated in the statement – “private confessions and feelings,” which Rotem said he did not plan to publicize.
Gelblum was a member of the Jewish Combat Organization and participated in the Warsaw uprising. She left Poland in 1968. To cut herself off from the past she changed her name to Irena Conti Di Mauro, pretending to be an Italian poet.
PWN is required to publish the apology on its website.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.