Brown Vulcan fiber suitcase inscribed and used by a German Jewish couple
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 16.000 inches (40.64 cm) | Width: 23.750 inches (60.325 cm) | Depth: 8.750 inches (22.225 cm)
Creator(s)
- Mathilde de Beer (Subject)
Biographical History
Mathilde Rebecca Scheunpflug was born on March 14, 1876, in Salzwedel, Germany. Mathilde converted to Judaism in order to marry Adolf Daniel de Beer, and was disowned by her family. Adolf was born on April 29, 1877, in Emden. The couple settled in Oldenburg where Adolf operated a chain of laundries. The couple had four children: Charlotte, born on September 1, 1906, Ilse, born on July 22, 1908, Erich, born on July 19, 1903, and Hilde, born on July 28, 1901. The Jewish community is Oldenburg was close knit, with under 300 members. Adolf was president of the synagogue. In January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. By summer, the Nazi dictatorship was firmly established and legislation to persecute and exclude Jews from German society was enacted. The Nazi Party was very popular in Oldenburg and many members of the Jewish community left the country. Hilde had married Helmuth Benjamin de-Levie, a Dutch subject. After she divorced him, she moved to Palestine in 1936, and was joined by her daughter Hedwig Jocheved and other members of the extended family the next year. The Nazi government encouraged boycotts of Jewish businesses and, in August 1936, Adolf closed his businesses. Erich illegally emigrated to Palestine to join his sister in January 1937. During the Kristallnacht pogrom on November 9-10, 1938, the synagogue was destroyed in a fire set by anti-Jewish vandals. Adolf was arrested, paraded through the streets of Oldenburg, and sent to Dachau concentration camp, but was soon released. Charlotte, now Seligmann, and her husband left for Paraguay on March 17, 1939, and settled in Montevideo, Uruguay. Ilse had married Hermann Hirsh, who was born on April 5, 1902 in Hamburg, and they remained in Germany. Mathilde held a German identification card that did not identify her as Jewish. She and Albert went to Hamburg where she had family. Albert had to stay indoors in hiding, but Mathilde was able to obtain rations and support them. The couple stayed in Hamburg and endured the firestorm bombings of Hamburg by the Allies. Erich had joined the British Army in Palestein and was captured by the Germans in Crete. He was held as a prisoner-of-war in Stalag XI-V and Stalag VIIIb in Germany and his parents occasionally received letters from him via the Red Cross. Germany surrendered in May 7, 1945. Albert and Mathilde were among a handful of Jews who returned to Oldenburg after the war. Ilse and her husband had been deported on April 19, 1943, via Berlin to Auschwitz concentration camp. Ilse was killed in Ravensbrueck concentration camp on July 20, 1944. Hermann also perished. Erich recuperated from his POW experience in England, and married Hannah Rabinovic, a Jewish refugee. They settled in Palestine (Israel) where Erich died in 1977. Charlotte and her husband later returned from South America and lived in Oldenburg and Munich. Albert, age 87, died in September 6, 1955. Mathilde, age 81, died on October 11, 1957. Several decades after the war, a street was named after Adolf de Beer in the Free City of Oldenburg.
Archival History
The suitcase was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012 by Abraham Levi, the great-grandson of Adolf and Mathilde de Beer.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Abraham Levi
Scope and Content
Vulcan fiber suitcase used by Mathilde and Adolf Daniel de Beer when they left Oldenburg, Germany, for Hamburg in the late 1930s where they lived for the duration of the war. Adolf was president of the synagogue in Oldenburg and operated a large commercial laundry with branches outside the city. In January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany and instituted government policies to persecute Jews. People were encouraged to boycott Jewish businesses and, in August 1936, Adolf closed his stores. The synagogue was destroyed during Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938. Mathilde had converted to Judaism prior to their marriage and was issued the identification card of a non-Jew. They left Oldenburg and moved to Hamburg where Mathilde had family. Adolf lived in hiding and Mathilde kept them fed and housed throughout the war, during which Hamburg was destroyed by Allied bombing. After the war ended in early May 1945, the couple returned to Oldenburg. Most of their family members perished during the Holocaust.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Rectangular, brown wood grain patterned Vulcanfiber suitcase with wooden framing, Vulcanfiber corner bumpers and edge trim. Most hardware is brass colored metal. There are 2 hasp locks on the lid center that insert into lockplates with keyholes riveted to the base. In the base center is a curved, brown plastic handle, covered with Vulcanfiber, with D-ring loops inserted through the ends and attached to 2 Vulcanfiber straps riveted to the base. The lid is attached to the base with 2 hinges masked by Vulcanfiber. The interior rim of the lid and base are metal trimmed. The interior is lined with discolored green and white striped paper. Two sets of white, cloth straps are attached to the interior front and back base panels; the front straps have knotted rope extensions and the back straps have metal loops on the ends. A silver colored metal scissor stay is attached to the base and lid on the left, with corner rests on each corner, possibly for a missing tray. A metal manufacturing label is riveted to the lid front and a white painted inscription in German on the right side of the base. The underside has 1 large circular foot stud on the back right corner; the other 3 studs are missing. The lid is warped and the case is worn overall from heavy use.
right side, base, handwritten, white paint : M.de Beer. Hambürg. 13.
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Germany--Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Jewish families--Germany--Biography.
- Jews--Persecution--Germany--Biography.
Genre
- Object
- Containers