Red and tan plaid handkerchief owned by a Polish Jewish refugee
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 15.875 inches (40.323 cm) | Width: 15.125 inches (38.418 cm)
Archival History
The handkerchief was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Henry and Shelley Kornman, the son and daughter-in-law of Julius Kornman.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Henry and Shelley Kornman
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
Brown and red plaid handkerchief owned by Yuda (Ido) Kornmann, a Jewish man from Sokal, Poland, who survived the Holocaust with his wife Hela and young daughter Regina. Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Three weeks later, the Soviet Union invaded from the east. Sokal was in eastern Poland (later Ukraine) and was occupied by the Soviet Union. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941, the town was overrun by German troops on June 23. Most of Ido’s relatives and the Jewish population of Sokal were deported to Belzec killing center in 1942. After the war ended in May 1945, Ido, Hela, and Regina presumably lived as displaced persons in Germany near Foehrenwald. The family, now including two young sons, emigrated to the United States in 1950.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Square, plaid cotton handkerchief with a light brown center square bordered by wide bands of light brown cloth, with dark red corners and a narrow light red center band. Several horizontal and vertical intersecting lines of offwhite thread are machine sewn over the red bands. The edge is finished with light brown cloth trim. The cloth is discolored with many stains, and some small holes.
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Ukraine--Sokal--Personal narratives.
- Holocaust survivors--United States--Biography.
- Poland--Emigration and immigration--Biography.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Personal narratives.
- United States--Emigration and immigration--Biography.
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--United States--Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Jewish refugees--United States--Biography.
Genre
- Dress Accessories
- Object