Brown leather belt worn by a rescued German Jewish boy

Heinz (later Harry, 1930-2014) Jakob Joseph Mayer was born on January 2, 1930, in Neustadt, Germany, to Maximillian and Hermina (Mina) Mayer and had two siblings: Gusti (b. 1921) and Eric (b. 1924). In June 1937, at age 12, Eric was sent to the United States on a children's transport and was taken in by a family in Minneapolis. In January 1938, Gusti was able to immigrate to the United States where she met Julius Ackerman and they married in 1941. In 1940, Heinz and his parents were deported to Camp de Gurs in France. Several months later, Heinz and a few other children were taken to the village of Aspet, France, in the Pyrenees. In August 1943, an aid organization, possibly Oeuvre de secours aux enfants (OSE), helped the children reach Switzerland. After the war Heinz learned that his parents, Max and Mina, were sent to Camp de Noé in 1941 and later deported to Auschwitz concentration camp, where they perished. In May 1946, Heinz immigrated to the United States aboard the SS Moinot Victory.

The belt was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2002 by Harry J. Mayer, the son of Max Mayer.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Harry J. Mayer

Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.