Leather wallet with 6 pockets used by a German Jewish refugee to hold wartime documents
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 4.250 inches (10.795 cm) | Width: 6.625 inches (16.828 cm) | Depth: 0.625 inches (1.588 cm)
Creator(s)
- Erna Meyer (Subject)
Biographical History
Erna Landau was born on January 8, 1915, in Rhede Germany, to Jewish parents, Arthur and Bertha Stern Landau. Bertha was born in 1887. Arthur’s family had lived in the area since the mid-1800s. Erna had a younger sister, Ruth, born on May 15, 1917. In January 1933, Hitler became Chancellor and repressive anti-Jewish measures were put into practice all over Germany. The girl's parents decided to send Erna and Ruth out of the country for safety. On June 15, 1938, they were sent to London, England. Erna worked as a seamstress. The war ended in May 1945. In July, Erna was employed by the United States Forces Civil Censorship Division, European Theater and worked in the occupied zones in Germany. Her parents had been deported from Germany in the early 1940s to Riga, Latvia, where they were murdered. Erna and Ruth left for the United States, and arrived in New York at the end of June 1947. Erna married Herman Meyer in New York City in 1948. Herman had also fled Nazi Germany, first for Holland, and then to Kenya with his extended family, before emigrating to the US in 1947. The couple settled in New Jersey and operated a chicken farm. Ruth, age 82, passed away on January 7, 1999. Erna died, age 97, on February 23, 2012.
Archival History
The wallet was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by Erna Landau Meyer, the wife of Herman Meyer.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Erna Landau Meyer
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
Wallet used by Erna Landau to carry her documents during and after the war. Due to the escalating persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany, Erna's parents, Arthur and Bertha, decided to send Erna and her younger sister Ruth from Rhede to Great Britain in June 1938. The war ended in May 1945. Arthur and Bertha had been deported from Germany to Riga, Latvia, where they were murdered. In June1947, Erna and Ruth emigrated to the United States.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Rectangular, large, brown leather bi-fold wallet with 2 interior left side pockets and 4 interior right side pockets; 2 are small adjacent slot pockets on the front of the large right pocket. The fullsize pockets have a cloth divider with a leather top. The leather is finished on the exterior side only. A strip of finished leather has been adhered to the interior between the right and left sides so that unfinished leather is not visible when the wallet is open. There is a flap with a leather loop tab for closing the front left pocket; one loop is detached.
Subjects
- Great Britain--Emigration and immigration--Biography.
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--Great Britain--Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Jewish refugees--Great Britain--Biography.
- Germany--Emigration and immigration--Biography.
Genre
- Dress Accessories
- Object