Rotbart Mond-Extra safety razor with blade used by a Romanian Jewish prisoner
Extent and Medium
a: Height: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm) | Width: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm) | Depth: 0.875 inches (2.223 cm)
b: Height: 0.875 inches (2.223 cm) | Width: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm)
Creator(s)
- Denes-Deszo Herskovits (Subject)
- Roth-Buchner GmbH (Manufacturer)
Biographical History
Denes-Dezso (Duzsi) Herskovits was born on March 2, 1915, to Alfred and Matild Rosner Herskovits in Seini, Transylvania, which became part of Romania in 1918. Alfred was born in 1883 and Matild in 1889. The family lived in Nagybanya. Duzsi had six siblings: Kato; Pista (Stephan); Elza, born 1910; Aleksander (Sanyi), born 1911; Margo; and Lazlo (Laci), born 1919. The family was Jewish but not religious. In 1931, Alfred died, and sixteen year old Duzsi left high school to support his family. In 1937, the fascist Romanian government enacted anti-Jewish laws similar to those in Nazi Germany. In August 1940, the German and Italian foreign ministers pressured Romanian diplomats into giving northern Romania, including Nagybanya, to Hungary. The Hungarians began conscripting Romanian Jews to work in labor battalions for the Hungarian Army. In 1941, Duzsi was conscripted into a Hungarian labor battalion and sent to a labor camp in Ditro, Hungary (Ditrau, Romania). In 1943-44, he was transferred to a labor camp in Csikrakos. In March 1944, Germany occupied Hungary. Duzsi and six friends escaped the labor camp, but on February 2, 1945, were caught by German troops. Duzsi and his companions were deported sent to Gunskirchen concentration camp, a subcamp of Mauthausen in Austria. On May 4, 1945, Duzsi was liberated by the United States Army. The next day, Duzsi was sent to a displaced persons camp in Wels, Austria. Duzsi next returned to Seini to look for his family, assisted by Dego, a refugee aid group in Budapest. Upon his return, Duzsi learned the fate of his relatives. In June 1944, the Germans deported his mother Matild, his siblings Sanyi, Laszlo, and Elza, and Elza’s husband and daughters Fulop and Marica Klein to Auschwitz, where they were killed. Kato, Pista, and Margo survived the war. Duzsi met Borbala (Babi) Nussbacher and they married in 1947. The couple settled in Satu Mare, Romania and had a daughter in 1950. The family immigrated to Israel in 1962. Duzsi, age 78, died on January 4, 1994. Babi, age 78, died in 1994.
Archival History
The razor was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012 by Miriam Shelef, the daughter of Denes-Deszo “Duzsi” Herskovits.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Miriam Shelef
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
Rotbart Mond-Extra safety razor with double edge blade used by Denes-Deszo (Duzsi) Herskovits and possibly acquired when he was interned at Ditro, a forced labor camp in Hungary. Duzsi lived in Nagybanya, in Transylvania, an area of Romania absorbed in August 1940 by Hungary. In 1941, Duzsi was conscripted into forced labor for the Hungarian Army and sent to labor camps in Ditro and Csikrakos. At some point in 1944, Duzsi and six friends escaped the labor camp. On February 2, 1945, they were captured by German troops, who had occupied Hungary since March 1944. Duzsi and the others were deported to Gunskirchen concentration camp, a subcamp of Mauthausen in Austria. Duzsi was liberated by the US Army in May and returned to Romania to search for his family. He learned that his mother and three of his siblings had been killed in Auschwitz in June 1944. He married Borbala (Babi) Nussbacher, a survivor from Bobota, Romania, in 1947.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
a. Metal safety razor with a hollow tubular handle with a textured black shaft and smooth, bronze colored bands near the top and bottom. The handle attaches to the underside of the rectangular razor head. Near the end of the handle is an etched band, open on the bottom, that rotates to open and close the rectangular, smooth, curved hinged blade cover. The head base has a smooth, silver colored metal plate with 13 comb teeth along both straight edges. There is a post in the center to hold the double edged razor blade. The manufacturer's name is etched on the head and the handle. It is discolored, scratched, and has green corrosion. b. Rectangular, double edged stainless steel razor blade with notched edges attached on the head of razor (a.) There are geometric cut outs in the blade and a circular hole in the center to attach it to the post of the razor. The front is stamped with the Gillette logo and manufacturing information, with patent information on the reverse.
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Romania--Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Jews--Persecution--Romania--Nagybanya--Biography.
- Forced labor--Hungary--Biography.
- Concentration camp inmates--Austria--Gunskirchen--Biography.
- World War, 1939-1945--Conscript labor--Hungary--Personal narratives, Romanian.
Genre
- Object
- Personal Equipment and Supplies