Dark red leather wallet used by a Polish Army officer to hold military ID

Wilhelm Beigel was born on May 18, 1927, in Vilna, Poland, (Vilnius, Lithuania) to Ferdinand, born on June 25, 1899, in Lemberg, Austria (L’viv, Ukraine), and Liza Kowarsky, born on October 20, 1904, in Vilna. Ferdinand was an officer in the Polish Army. Liza’s parents, Zelik (d. 1935) and Musia Kowarsky owned the Hotel Bristol, the largest hotel in Vilna. The Beigel family lived there with 14 extended family members. Wilhelm's immediate family was not particularly observant, attending synagogue only for the high holidays, but his grandparents were and Musia kept a kosher household. Wilhelm attended a Polish school where twice daily Catholic prayers were part of the curriculum. Wilhelm knew the prayers, but did not recite them and stood while the others kneeled. Wilhelm did not look Jewish and spoke Polish without an accent, but was called antisemitic names which sometimes led to fist fights. There was widespread anti-semitism in Vilna and it increased during the 1930s with the rise to power of the Nazi Party in Germany. There was a boycott on Jewish businesses, and business owners, including Zelik, were required to put their names on their storefronts to make enforcement easier. When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Ferdinand’s regiment was deployed, but he remained in Vilna to attend to regiment business. In late September, under the terms of the German-Soviet pact, Vilna and eastern Poland were occupied by Soviet forces. Ferdinand attempted to escape; his vehicle was hit by a Soviet tank, fracturing his arm. He was interned in a Lithuanian hospital, but soon released. The Beigel family considered emigrating to the United States, where Liza’s three half brothers lived, but after the Soviets transferred control of Vilna to Lithuania in late October, they decided to stay. Lithuania was re-occupied by Soviet forced on June 15, 1940. Jewish businesses were nationalized, and political, cultural, and welfare organizations shut down. The family had to move into an apartment. Wilhelm attended a Russian school, Ferdinand worked as a bookkeeper and Liza as a waitress. On June 22, 1941, Germany invaded Russian territory and occupied Vilna on June 24. The family watched from their garden as Vilna was bombed. The next day, Jews were required to wear a white, square cloth with a painted letter J inside a circle. Wilhelm’s aunt and mother embroidered the circle and J in silk and then went for a walk. They were arrested and brought to the barracks of regiment L27341 where they were told to remove and use their underwear to wash the floors and windows. They were ordered to return the next day as they were now the regiment’s cleaning women. The entire family soon worked for the regiment. On September 6, a Jewish ghetto was established. Before their forced relocation, the family hid their photo albums in the attic. Germans occupied their apartment and retained the family maid. Wilhelm worked in the regimental kitchen and stole food on delivery days and brought it back to the ghetto. In spring 1942, the regiment left. Ferdinand became chief of the ghetto prison and Liza again worked as a waitress. Wilhelm attended a Jewish technical school and worked in a machine shop. The family listened in secret to the radio and followed the war. During Aktions, when the Germans rounded up Jews for deportation, they hid in a secret cellar room. On September 4, 1943, the Germans began to destroy the ghetto. It was surrounded by Latvian Schutzstaffel [SS] and Ferdinand was shot and killed while watching from a window. Wilhelm, in the hospital recovering from pleurisy, learned about this through a ghetto death announcement. On September 23, Wilhelm, Liza, and Musia were sent by Jacob Gens, head of the Jewish council, to the nearby Heereskraftfahrpark/Ost/562 (HKP) labor camp. Gens probably thought this would save them from deportation. Wilhelm worked as a machinist and Liza in the sewing shop. The rest of the family was sent to various camps or taken to Ponary forest and murdered. In June 1944, the camp commander ordered the prisoners to be deported. Wilhelm decided to escape, and on June 30, he jumped out the machine shop window. He hid in the bushes and the next day walked to Vilna. He pretended to be Polish and used the name Wilhelm Bisowski. He returned to the family apartment; the Germans were gone and the maid remained, but she did not recognize him at first. He asked for a hat to hide his shaved head and she made him breakfast. Later that day, Wilhelm returned to the camp and got word to his mother and grandmother that he was alive. A former Polish officer and friend of Ferdinand’s gave Liza his contact information. Wilhelm contacted him and the man said Wilhelm could stay with him and got Wilhelm a job with a German field kitchen. The kitchen went to a concentration camp with 5,000 Polish civilian prisoners. The German captain learned that Wilhelm spoke German and made him camp interpreter. After 3 days, Wilhelm left and returned to the Polish officer’s house. Vilna was liberated by the Soviet army in July 1944. Wilhelm went to the labor camp and learned that his mother and grandmother had been executed in Ponary forest on July 4. He returned to the apartment and retrieved the photos from the attic. In March 1945, he left for Łódź, Poland. In September 1945, with the help of Bricha, an underground organization that helped to smuggle Jews out of Europe, Wilhelm went to Munich, Germany. He was told not to keep any photos that might identify him as Jewish or Polish. He selected a few pictures then left the rest on a train between Katowice and Prague. He moved to Gailingen where he lived in the Dillingen an der Donau displaced persons camp and continued his education. He obtained a visa with the help of a maternal uncle in the US and arrived in New York on June 7, 1947, on the Marine Marlin from Bremen, Germany. He changed his name to William Begell. He married Esther Kessler, also from Vilna, and a survivor of several concentration camps. The couple had 2 children, who predeceased him. He was an engineer and a publisher of scholarly scientific materials; he co-founded or founded several firms, including Begell House Publishing. Esther, 77, died on June 21, 2003. William, 82, died in New York City on July 4, 2009.

Ferdinand Beigel was born on June 25, 1899, in Lemberg, Austro-Hungary (L’viv, Ukraine), to Wilhelm and Pauline Beigel. He had several younger sisters and a brother named Julius. Wilhelm was an officer in the Austrian Army and Ferdinand was a non-commissioned officer. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved following World War I (1914-1918). Poland gained independence on November 11, 1918, as a result of the Treaty of Versailles, and Wilhelm and Ferdinand were transferred to the Polish Army. Ferdinand went to officer school and was stationed in Vilna, Poland, (Vilnius, Lithuania). Ferdinand married Liza Kowarsky and the couple had a son, Wilhelm, born on May 18, 1927, in Vilna. Liza’s parents, Zelik (d. 1935) and Musia Kowarsky, owned the Hotel Bristol, the largest hotel in Vilna. The Beigel family lived there with 14 extended family members. Zelik and Musia were religious and kept a kosher home, but Ferdinand and his immediate family were not especially observant and attended synagogue only on high holidays. Antisemitism became more virulent throughout the 1930s, echoing the rise of Fascism in Nazi Germany. There was a boycott on Jewish businesses, and business owners, including the Kowarskys, were required to put their names on their storefronts to support the boycott by making it easier to identify Jewish establishments. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Ferdinand’s regiment was deployed, but he remained in Vilna to attend to regimental business. In late September, under the terms of the German-Soviet pact, Vilna and eastern Poland were occupied by Soviet forces. Ferdinand attempted to escape and his vehicle was hit by a Soviet tank. His arm was fractured and he was interned in a Lithuanian hospital. Ferdinand contacted a relative in Lithuania who arranged for his release and he returned home. The family considered emigrating to the United States, where Liza’s three half brothers lived, but after the Soviets transferred control of Vilna to Lithuania in late October, they decided to stay. Soviet forces re-occupied Lithuania on June 15, 1940, and annexed it in August. Jewish businesses were nationalized, and Jewish political, cultural, and welfare organizations were shut down. The Russians took over the hotel; the family was evicted and moved into an apartment. As there was no longer a Polish army, Ferdinand worked as a bookkeeper and Liza as a waitress. On June 22, 1941, Germany invaded Lithuania. The family watched the bombing of Vilna from their garden. Ferdinand knew it was safer to be outside than in a building. He dug holes outside for the family to lay down inside for cover. The Germans occupied Vilna on June 24. Within 2 days, German soldiers arrived; they stopped in the Beigel backyard to wash and shave. Ferdinand, who hated the Russians and was a native German speaker, became friendly with the soldiers. The next day, Jews were required to wear a white, square cloth with a painted letter J inside a circle. Liza and her sister embroidered the circle and J in silk and then went for a walk. They were arrested and brought to the barracks of regiment L27341 where they were told to remove and use their underwear to wash the floors and windows. They were ordered to return the next day as they were now the regiment’s cleaning women. The entire family soon worked for the regiment. On September 6, 1941, the Vilna ghetto was established. Before they were forced to move, the family hid their photo albums in the attic and their apartment was occupied by Germans. The family continued to work for the regiment until spring 1942, when the regiment left Vilna. Ferdinand became a member of the Jewish police and chief of the ghetto prison, and Liza worked as a waitress. Wilhelm attended a Jewish technical school and worked as a machine shop assistant. The family secretly listened to the radio daily and followed the war. During Aktions, when the Germans would round up Jews for deportation to concentration camps, they hid in a secret cellar room. On September 4, 1943, the Germans ordered the liquidation of the ghetto and it was surrounded by Latvian Schutzstaffel [SS]. Ferdinand watched from a window and was shot and killed. Wilhelm, Liza, and Musia were transferred to Heereskraftfahrpark/Ost/562 (HKP) labor camp in Vilna. Wilhelm escaped on June 30, 1944, and later learned that Liza and Musia were murdered four days later at a mass execution in Ponary forest.

The wallet was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by William Begell, the son of Ferdinand Beigel.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of William Begell

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