Small square black painted wooden trunk used by Jewish refugees
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 18.000 inches (45.72 cm) | Width: 19.625 inches (49.848 cm) | Depth: 12.250 inches (31.115 cm)
Creator(s)
- Renee Fritz (Subject)
Biographical History
Renee Schwalb was born on April 4, 1937, in Vienna, Austria, to Nicholas and Sima Schwalb. Nicholas was the owner of a successful men's clothing store. In March 1938, Nazi Germany merged Austria into the German Reich. Anti-Jewish laws were enacted to persecute Jews and exclude them from Austrian society. Nicholas's business was confiscated and his stock seized. In early1939, Nicholas went to the United States in order to prepare for the rest of his family to emigrate. Unfortunately he could not secure permission for his family to leave. As persecutions increased and Jews were being deported to ghettos and camps, the extended family decided to flee Austria. Thirteen family members traveled, mostly on foot, in small groups from Vienna to Belgium. Sima had to carry two year old Renee for most of the journey. Sima had a small suitcase that she would periodically open and Renee knew that meant they would have something to eat. Her mother had some jewelry that she bartered for supplies during the trek. Some members of her family, including Renee, stayed in Brussels with Mr. and Mrs. Degelas, a Catholic couple. After the Germans invaded Belgium in 1940, it became too dangerous to remain there. Renee was sent, with the help of the underground, to live in a Sisters of Charity convent in northern Belgium and given the name Suzanne LeDent. She learned to pray with a rosary and won medals for memorizing Catholic prayers. After two years, the convent was suspected of hiding Jews, so Renee was sent to live on a dairy farm in the Belgian countryside with a Protestant family. She was later sent to an orphanage in Namur. When the town was liberated by American troops in January of 1945, the eight year old girl became attached to American Serviceman Jack Schultz who was going to adopt Renee until he learned that she had surviving family members. Her uncle, Bernard Bressler, had been searching for her through the American Red Cross. He came for Renee and re-united her with her mother who had spent two years in Auschwitz concentration camp. The long separation made their relationship strained for some time. After waiting four years to rise to the top of the Austrian quota list, Renee and her mother emigrated to the United States to join Renee's father, Nicholas. Renee matriculated into the American high-school system with much difficulty because of the language barrier. She went on to graduate from Boston University. Renee married an American, Jesse Fritz, and they had two daughters.
Archival History
The trunk was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by Renée Schwalb Fritz, the daughter of Sima Schwalb.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Renée Schwalb Fritz
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
Small, trunk cube with front and side openings used by Renee and Sima Schwalb when they emigrated in 1949 to the United States from Belgium. When Renee was nearly a year old, Austria, where she lived in Vienna with her parents, Sima and Nicholas, was annexed by Nazi Germany in March 1938. Anti-Jewish legislation to persecute and disenfranchise the Jewish population was soon enacted. Nicholas's clothing store was confiscated and all valuables were seized. In early 1939, Nicholas left for the US to make arrangements for the rest of the family, for whom visas could not be obtained, to join him. By late1939, Jews were being deported to ghettos and camps, so Sima decided to flee with 2 year old Renee and 11 other family members. They traveled by foot and Sima had to carry Renee most of the way. They reached Brussels, Belgium, where a Catholic couple, the Degalas, gave them refuge. After Germany occupied Belgium in spring 1940, it was too dangerous to stay together. Renee was sent to a convent for two years, and then moved to other hiding places. She was in an orphanage in Namur when the war ended there in January 1945. Sima was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943. After the German surrender in May 1945, Sima returned to Belgium and mother and daughter were reunited. In 1949, they emigrated to the United States where they finally joined Renee's father.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Small, square, boxlike wooden trunk with a double stop hinged lid covered in black painted, coated cloth with a striated wood pattern. The lid has leather edging and a large, leather handle inserted through 2 brackets on the lid top which opens upward. A metal band is riveted along the bottom of the lid panels and rests upon the indented ledge of the base top. The base has leather edging and the front corners also have metal corner bands with a draw bolt latch on each side. The latches fasten the front base panel which opens outward to rest flat at a ninety degree angle. There are 2 key lock hasps on the lid front and 2 keyhole lock plates on the base top. A black metal padlock plate is screwed between the lock plates. The interior is lined with light brown and offwhite striped cloth, with blue pinstripe cloth packing straps nailed to a horizontal wooden rail nailed to the middle of each side. The case is worn and scratched.
lockplates, engraved : 623
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--United States.
- Women concentration camp inmates--Poland--Biography.
- Hidden children (Holocaust)--Belgium--Biography.
- Jewish children in the Holocaust--Belgium--Biography.
- Holocaust survivors--United States--Biography.
- Jewish refugees--United States--Biography.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Belgium--Personal narratives, Austrian.
Genre
- Object
- Containers