Patterned black leather wallet used by a Polish Jewish refugee
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 6.000 inches (15.24 cm) | Width: 4.000 inches (10.16 cm) | Depth: 0.375 inches (0.953 cm)
Archival History
The wallet 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
Black crocodile skin patterned wallet 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
Rectangular, crocodile patterned, black leather bifold wallet. On 1 side of the interior is a large slot pocket with a curved edge and a black leather trimmed cloth divider. On the other side is a large, accordion flap pocket with a black leather covered pull tab and a cloth divider. The large pockets are sewn into the edge seams and open near the inner horizontal wallet fold, which is reinforced with a strip of black leather. The interior is lined with black cloth. The leather is extremely worn, marked with white paint, and the large pockets are detaching.
Subjects
- Poland--Emigration and immigration--Biography.
- Holocaust survivors--United States--Biography.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Personal narratives.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Ukraine--Sokal--Personal narratives.
- United States--Emigration and immigration--Biography.
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--United States--Personal narratives.
- Jewish refugees--United States--Biography.
Genre
- Object
- Dress Accessories