Two dried flower bundles preserved by an Austrian Jewish Kindertransport refugee
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 3.500 inches (8.89 cm) | Width: 6.125 inches (15.558 cm) | Depth: 0.625 inches (1.588 cm)
Creator(s)
- Erich Kupferberg (Subject)
Biographical History
Erich Kupferberg was born on June 27, 1931, in Graz, Austria, to Baruch Hersch and Hedwig Baruch Kupferberg. Baruch was born on June 22, 1893, in Gliniany, Poland, to Mirl Kupferberg. Hedwig was born on March 30, 1897, in Lackenbach, Austria, to Karl and Charlotte Blum Baruch. Hedwig had a brother, Siegfried, who was born on May 26, 1895, and was a doctor. Baruch and Hedwig married on June 12, 1927. They lived in Vienna. Baruch had been married previously and had another son, Paul, who was born on September 16, 1920. Germany annexed Austria on March 12, 1938, an action greeted with enthusiasm by the majority of the population. Germany’s anti-Jewish legislation was extended to Austria. As a result of the violent November 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom, many Austrian Jews made plans to leave the country, including the Kupferberg and Baruch families. Erich’s maternal uncle, Siegfried, his wife Katalin, and their children Hans and Liselotte immigrated to the US and arrived in New York on February 17, 1939. After Kristallnacht, Great Britain eased immigration policies for children under 17 from Germany and German annexed countries. Aid societies arranged Kindertransports to take Jewish children to Great Britain. In early 1939, Erich was sent to London with the assistance of the Refugee Children’s Movement. He lived with a distant relative and then lived in a home in Barnstaple. By 1944, arrangements had been made to send Erich to live with his Uncle Siegfried in New York. Erich boarded the MV Britannic in Liverpool on April 8, and arrived in Boston on April 21. Erich lived with his uncle’s family in Brooklyn until 1949, when he turned 18. In March 1950, Erich was reunited with his parents. Baruch and Hedwig had escaped Austria on April 18, 1939, and arrived in Shanghai on May 15. The war in Japan ended in September 1945. A few years after the war, they left for Israel, arriving there on December 17, 1948. In September 1949 they returned to Austria where Baruch worked as a bookkeeper and Hedwig as an infant nurse. In early 1950, they arrived in America and settled in Brooklyn. They learned that their extended family had not survived the war. Paul, who had been active in the underground movement, was deported to Gurs internment camp in France in 1941. He perished in the Holocaust but no details are known. Hedwig’s father and stepmother, Karl and Rosa, were deported to Theresienstadt on transport 35 on August 13, 1942. Rosa died on December 4, 1942. Karl died on February 26, 1943. Baruch (now Herman,) age 68, passed away on July 7, 1961. Siegfried, age 94, died on September 27, 1989. Hedwig, age 97, died on February 16, 1995.
Archival History
The dried flowers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012 by Erich Kupferberg.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Erich Kupferberg
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
Dried flowers saved in an envelope by Erich Kupferberg, who at age seven was sent by his parents Baruch and Hedwig from Vienna to London in early 1939 on the Kindertransport [Children’s Transport]. After Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany on March 12, 1938, anti-Jewish legislation was enacted to ostracize the Jewish population. The Kristallnacht pogrom that November was especially brutal in Vienna. Most synagogues were destroyed and Jewish shops and homes were vandalized. Great Britain agreed to admit refugee children under 17 from Germany and German annexed territories and aid societies coordinated Kindertransports. Erich was assisted by the Refugee Children’s Movement. He lived with a distant relative in London, then in a home in Barnstaple. In April 1944, Erich went to New York to live with his maternal uncle, Dr. Siegfried Baruch, who had left Austria for the US in February 1939. Baruch and Hedwig left Vienna in April 1939 for Shanghai, China. In December 1948, they traveled from China for Israel, and in September 1949 returned to Austria. In March 1950, they arrived in New York and were reunited with Erich.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Two bundles of small dried pink flowers, leaves, and stems. One bundle is wrapped in clear plastic wrap, sealed with discolored white tape. The other is wrapped in a white paper napkin with a restaurant logo. The bundles are packaged in a white paper airmail envelope with a blue logo and a manufacturer’s sticker on the inside flap. The flap has been torn open, and then taped.
envelope, interior flap, sticker, printed, black ink : Kingstone Paper
Subjects
- Kindertransports (Rescue operations)--Great Britain--Personal narratives, Austrian.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Austria--Vienna--Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--Great Britain--Personal narratives.
- Jewish refugees--China--Shanghai--Biography.
- Jewish refugees--Great Britain--Biography.
- Jewish children in the Holocaust--Ausria--Vienna--Biography.
Genre
- Object
- Materials