Green metal Werk Kratzau labor camp badge worn by an inmate
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Width: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Depth: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm)
Creator(s)
- Helen H. Waterford (Subject)
Biographical History
Helen H. Waterford is a native of Offenbach, Germany, and a survivor of Auschwitz. Waterford and her first husband were hidden by non-Jews in Amsterdam, Netherlands, during most of the Nazi occupation but were discovered by the Gestapo and taken to Auschwitz where her husband died. She was later moved to Kratzau (a.k.a. Chrastava) concentration camp. After liberation, Waterford and her daughter emigrated to the United States. In 1979 she began lecturing to audiences about her experiences during the Holocaust. Waterford presently resides in Chula Vista, California.
Archival History
The badge was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1989 by Helen Waterford.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Helen Waterford, In memory of my husband Siegfried Wohlfarth, who did not return, the father of my only child Doris Kuperman
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Green painted identification pin impressed Werk Kratzau issued to Helen Waterford at Kratzau-Chrastava labor camp, a satellite camp of Gross Rosen concentration camp, where she was interned from October 1944 until May 1945.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Five sided silver colored metal badge, square with a pointed, triangular top, a blue-green painted recessed field, and a central equilateral triangle enclosing a circle above the German words Werk Kratzau. A safety pin clasp is inserted horizontally through a plate and soldered on the back.
front, raised : Werk / Kratzau
Subjects
- Holocaust survivors--United States.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany.
- Women concentration camp inmates--Czechoslovakia.
- Slave labor--Czechoslovakia.
- World War, 1939-1945--Conscript labor.
Genre
- Identifying Artifacts
- Object