Green handkerchief case used by a German Jewish emigre

Heinz Jakob Kis was born on March 5, 1914, in Erfurt, Germany, to Samuel and Frieda Emanuel Kis. Samuel, a merchant, was born on April 10, 1881, most likely in Altona, Germany. Frieda was born in June 1889, in Nentershausen, Germany, to Yaakov and Perel Emanuel. On March 25, 1913, Samuel and Frieda married in Erfurt. On November 1, 1921, Heinz’s brother Alfred was born. On February 21, 1922, Heinz’s family moved to Eisenach. Samuel owned a store that sold manufactured goods. Frieda was a saleswoman at the store. On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. The regime enacted anti-Jewish laws, which restricted the daily lives of Jews. In 1936, Heinz and his brother Alfred secured one of the few visas granted to Jews trying to travel to Palestine, which was ruled by the British per a United Nations mandate. They left, but their parents, Samuel and Frieda, were not included in the visa. On November 10, 1938, the second day of Kristallnacht, Samuel was arrested. He was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp and assigned prisoner number 20801. On November 27, he was released. Heinz’s parents continued to look for ways to leave and join their sons. In June 1939, Heinz received a letter from Samuel explaining that someone suggested he apply for Cuban visas, but there was no money to pay for them. In September 1939, the war began after Germany invaded Poland and Heinz no longer received mail from his parents. On May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered. Heinz later learned that his parents, Samuel and Frieda, were deported in May 1942 on transport Da 72 to Belzyce ghetto in Poland. They were listed as missing after the war and he presumed they perished. On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was established. Heinz became a travel agent. His brother Alfred changed his name to Ze’ve. Heinz married a Polish Jewish emigre, Malka Amir, in Haifa. Malka was born Regina Spitz on April 7, 1923, in Poland, to Yehoshua and Elka Nadel Spitz. By 1933, Malka’s family had immigrated, settling first in Berlin, Germany, and then in Haifa, Palestine. The family changed their surname to Amir. In the 1950s, Heinz and Malka immigrated to the United States, and Americanized their names to Henry and Molly. They had two daughters and settled in New Jersey. Ze’ve, 62, died in 1984. Henry, 85, died on February 17, 2000.

The handkerchief holder was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by Molly Kis, the wife of Henry Kis.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Molly Kis

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