Nazi armband with a swastika acquired by a US soldier
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 4.250 inches (10.795 cm) | Width: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm)
Creator(s)
- Mordecai E. Schwartz (Subject)
Biographical History
Mordecai E. Schwartz had a college degree in business adminstration and was fluent in six languages when he enlisted in the United States Army in 1942. After the war ended in May 1945, he was stationed in Munich, Germany, and was recruited by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). He requested and was granted a European discharge from the US Army and became the Area Director for UNRRA in the US Zone in Germany from 1945 to 1948. Upon the deactivation of UNRRA in 1948, he was transferred and made Area Director for the International Refugee Organization (IRO), supervising twenty-eight displaced persons camps in Germany. The displaced persons camps were set up to house and feed, and to provide medical service, and legal protection for survivors of the concentration and slave labor camps, and to offer them the chance to reestablish their lives postwar. When IRO was deactivated in 1951, Mordecai was recruited by US Air Force Intelligence in Munich and served in their worldwide operations until his retirement with highest honors.
Archival History
The armband was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993 by Mordecai Schwartz.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Mordecai E. Schwartz
Scope and Content
Nazi swastika armband acquired by Mordecai E. Schwart. Schwartz, a soldier in the United States Army. After the war ended in May 1945, Schwartz was recruited to serve as Area Director for UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration). He worked for UNRRA until 1948, when the organization was deactivated. He then became Area Director for the International Refugee Organization (IRO), supervising twenty-eight displaced persons camps in Germany. The DP camps were set up to house and feed, and to provide medical service and legal protection for survivors of the concentration and slave labor camps, and to offer them the chance to reestablish their lives postwar. When IRO was deactivated in 1951, Mordecai was recruited by US Air Force Intelligence.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Red cloth armband with a black swastika on a white circle sewn to the front.
Corporate Bodies
- United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--Germany--Personal narratives, American.
- Soldiers--United States--Biography.
- Jewish soldiers--United States--Biography.
- World War, 1939-1945--Civilian relief--Personal narratives, American.
- Jewish refugees--Germany--Biography.
Genre
- Identifying Artifacts
- Object