Boy Scout badge issued to Jewish refugee in Shanghai
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 4.750 inches (12.065 cm) | Width: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm)
Creator(s)
- Eric Bergtraun (Subject)
Biographical History
Eric Bergtraun (1925-2008) was born Erich Maximilian Bergtraun in Vienna to Edmund Leon Bergtraun and Lilly Wagner Bergtraun. His family left Austria for Shanghai shortly after Kristallnacht in 1938 and was forced to live in the Hongkew Ghetto for three years as the war intensified. Eric was active in the underground British Boy Scouts and became Scout Master after the war. He immigrated to the United States in 1948, settled in San Francisco, and married Polly Bergtraun (nee Hertz).
Archival History
The badge was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2000 by Eric Bergtraun.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Eric Bergtraun
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
red triangle, folded in half; "13" handwritten in pencil on outside upper right corner; black with red border on inside; "EINMAL EIN/PFADFINDER/IMMER EIN/PFADFINDER./B.P./JAHRESFEIR/ 1943/44 /Polly" hand written in red ink on small piece of paper adhered inside.
Genre
- Object
- Identifying Artifacts