Red checked towel embroidered ES saved by German Jewish refugees

Identifier
irn607458
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2012.485.4
Dates
1 Jan 1933 - 31 Dec 1933
Level of Description
Item
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 29.875 inches (75.883 cm) | Width: 21.625 inches (54.928 cm)

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Fritz Silberschmidt was born on October 4, 1908, in Bocholt, Germany, to a Jewish couple, Jacob and Selma Berg Silberschmidt. Jacob was a veteran of World War I (1914-1918). Selma was born on November 17, 1884, in Essen. Fritz had a brother, Rudolph, who was born on May 23, 1912. Fritz’s father Jacob died in 1927. In January 1933, Hitler came to power and soon established a Nazi dictatorship that was hostile to Jews. On November 8, Fritz moved to Cologne. Later that year, he married Juliane Else Simon. Juliane was born on September 5, 1909, in Cologne, to Eduard and Dorothea Altman Simon. Eduard was born in Thalfang on January 27, 1873. Dorothea was born in Schrimm (Srem, Poland) on August 31, 1877. In June 1936, Fritz’s mother and brother also moved to Cologne. In 1939, Fritz, Juliane, Rudolph, and Selma decided to depart for the Netherlands, leaving behind their extended families. Nazi officials confiscated their personal and household belongings, except for three silver spoons which they were given permission to take with them. In Holland, Fritz was detained in Zeeburgerdijk quarantine center in Amsterdam. This was one of several internment camps for legal refugees that the Dutch established to handle the large influx of people fleeing Nazi rule. Fritz was assigned to make shoes in the camp. In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and even legal refugees were subject to internment as enemy aliens. On a visit to the camp, Rudolph told Fritz that he was going to volunteer for a factory job, hoping to protect their mother in case Germany invaded Netherlands. Fritz was eventually released from the internment center. On January 24, 1940, he and Juliane sailed from Rotterdam on the SS Veendam, arriving in New York on February 5. They settled in Boston and Americanized their names to Fred and Juliana Elsa Silversmith. They had a son in 1945. Germany occupied Netherlands in May 1940. In 1942, Juliana received a letter from the Red Cross that said her parents had been deported from Germany to Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp in German occupied Czechoslovakia. The war ended when Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945. They subsequently learned that Fred’s brother Rudolph was murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp on September 30, 1942. He had been sent to Westerbork transit camp on July 15, 1942, and then deported. Juliana’s parents had been arrested on June 16, 1942, in Cologne by the Gestapo and sent to Theresienstadt. On September 19, 1942, they were deported on transport Bo to Treblinka or Maly Trostenets killing center, and murdered. Fred’s mother Selma survived in hiding in the Netherlands. She joined Fred and Juliana in Boston, sailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, on the SS Gripsholm, and arriving in New York on December 2, 1946. Selma, 79, passed away on February 13, 1964. Fred, 82, died on March 17, 1991. Juliana, 90, died on April 4, 2000.

Archival History

The towel was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2014 by Peter Silversmith.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Peter Silversmith

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

Red windowpane checked dish towel monogrammed ES received as a wedding gift by Fritz and Juliane Else Silberschmidt in 1933. It was one of a pair, and they received a matching black set as well. These towels were among the very few items that they were permitted to take with them when they left Nazi Germany for the Netherlands in 1939. The rest of the family's personal and household belongings were confiscated by German authorities. Fritz and Juliane, and Fritz's mother Selma and brother Rudolph fled Cologne in 1939. After Germany invaded Poland that September, even legal emigrants were detained as enemy aliens. Fritz was interned at Zeeburgerdijk quarantine center in Amsterdam. After his release, he and Juliane left for America in January 1940. Fritz's brother Rudolph was murdered in Auschwitz in September 1942. His mother survived in hiding and joined them in the US in 1946.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Rectangular, white cotton dish towel with a red windowpane check pattern overlaid by horizontal red stripes near the edges. The initials ES are embroidered in red thread 4 inches from the bottom and a cloth ribbon loop is sewn to the back top edge.

front, bottom, embroidered, red thread : ES [Else Silberschmidt]

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.