George Birman collection

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn13555
• English
• overall: Height: 9.125 inches (23.178 cm) | Width: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm) | Depth: 0.375 inches (0.953 cm)
• Updated 1 year ago

Dark brown leather wrist watch worn by Hirsch Birman after the war as a refugee in Vienna, Austria. Hirsch and his father Abel lived in Kovno, (Kaunas) Lithuania, which was occupied by Germany on June 22, 1941. They fled, but were caught and brought back. On August 15, they were forced into a sealed ghetto. Hirsch was sent to Kedahnen concentration/labor camp in September, and Abel arrived in spring 1943. When the camp was being evacuated on July 9, 1944, due to approaching Soviet forces, they escaped through holes that Hirsch cut with pliers in the barbed wire fences. They hid in the fores...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn13556
• English
• a: Height: 8.125 inches (20.638 cm) | Width: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm) | Depth: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm) b: Height: 8.375 inches (21.273 cm) | Width: 1.750 inches (4.445 cm) | Depth: 0.625 inches (1.588 cm)
• Updated 1 year ago

Survival knife with a leather sheath worn by Hirsch Birman, who called it a Boy Scout knife, following his escape from Kedhanen concentration/labor camp in July 1944. Hirsch and his father Abel lived in Kovno, (Kaunas) Lithuania, which was occupied by Germany on June 22, 1941. They fled, but were caught and brought back. On August 15, they were forced into a sealed ghetto. Hirsch was sent to Kedahnen concentration/labor camp in September, and Abel arrived in spring 1943. When the camp was being evacuated on July 9, 1944, due to approaching Soviet forces, they escaped through holes that Hirs...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn41083
• English
• overall: Height: 43.750 inches (111.125 cm) | Width: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm) | Depth: 0.500 inches (1.27 cm)
• Updated 1 year ago

Leather belt worn by 22 year old Hirsch Birman following his escape from Kedhanen labor camp in 1944. Hirsch was living in Kovno, (Kaunas) Lithuania, with his father Abel, when Germany occupied the city on June 22, 1941. On August 15, they were forced into a sealed ghetto. Hirsch was sent to labor camp Kedahnen in September 1942, and Abel arrived in spring 1943. During the camp's evacuation on July 9, 1944, due to approaching Russian forces, they escaped through holes that Hirsch cut with pliers in the barbed wire fences. They hid in the forest until local farmers told them it was safe to c...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn41084
• English
• overall: Height: 6.375 inches (16.192 cm) | Width: 1.875 inches (4.763 cm) | Depth: 0.500 inches (1.27 cm)
• Updated 1 year ago

Cutting combination pliers used by 22 year old Hirsch Birman to escape the German labor camp, Kedahnen on July 9, 1944. Hirsch was living in Kovno, (Kaunas) Lithuania, with his father Abel, when Germany occupied the city on June 22, 1941. On August 15, they were forced into a sealed ghetto. Hirsch was sent to labor camp Kedahnen in September 1942, and Abel arrived in spring 1943. During the camp's evacuation on July 9, 1944, due to approaching Russian forces, they escaped through holes that Hirsch cut with pliers in the barbed wire fences. They hid in the forest until local farmers told the...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn531822
• English
• 1930-2002
• box oversize boxes 1 3
• Updated 1 year ago

The George Birman papers consist of an admission ticket to the International Military Tribunal, eight pocket size daily agenda planners, biographical materials, photographic materials, and printed materials documenting George Birman’s childhood in Lithuania, his confinement with his father, Abel Birman, in the Kovno (Kaunas) ghetto, his work at the Kedahnen (Kedainiai) labor camp, and his postwar education and work with displaced persons in Vienna. The admission ticket permitted entrance to the visitor’s gallery of the International Military Tribunal during session 116. Eight pocket size da...