Szymon Tenenbaum (1892-1941) - życiorys spisany na entomologicznej etykiecie

Szymon Tenenbaum was born on January 31, 1892 in Warsaw to a family of Jewish origin. His wife, Eleonora, in 1947 donated both the book collection and the collection of beetles owned by the family to the State Zoological Museum (PMZ). The family that experienced the tragedy of the Holocaust - only the wife of the famous entomologist survived. Tenenbaum was associated with the PMZ during the interwar period, not only as a correspondent member, but also a scientist who saved and organized the entomological collections after the fire in 1935, and the author of a zoological collection of exceptional importance, exceeding the scientific value of ordinary collections of insects. Tenenbaum died in the Warsaw ghetto on November 29, 1941, but his collection of beetles survived World War II, protected in the Zoological Garden in Warsaw in the Villa under a crazy star. This collection played an important role in escorting the ghetto and saving many people by Jan and Antonina Żabinski. During the Warsaw Uprising, Tenenbaums collection was stored in the basement of the PMZ building at ul. Wilcza 64 in Warsaw. The collection of over 250,000 museum labels attached to beetle specimens is an enormous amount of data enabling the reconstruction of the places and dates of the great entomologists stay and the determination of his associates. The Tenenbaum collection, as acquisitions, also includes specimens obtained during the time of the Zoological Cabinet by the most outstanding Polish naturalists such as: Antoni Libra, Wladyslaw Taczanowski, Ksawery and Aleksander Branicki, Benedykt Dybowski, Konstanty Jelski, Ludwik Hildt. These specimens are among the few that have survived in Polish collections. In 1944, after the fall of the Warsaw Uprising, the Germans set fire to the Museum building and destroyed the most valuable Polish entomological collections. The material and personal losses of the PMZ perfectly reflect the overall picture of the devastation of Polish science during World War II, the effects of which are still felt today.