Singer 13 sewing machine with a fiddle base used by a tailor in a sealed ghetto
Extent and Medium
a: Height: 9.000 inches (22.86 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm) | Depth: 6.000 inches (15.24 cm)
b: Height: 2.875 inches (7.302 cm) | Width: 25.625 inches (65.088 cm) | Depth: 18.875 inches (47.943 cm)
Creator(s)
- Singer Sewing Machine Corp. (Manufacturer)
- Smil Wagner (Subject)
Biographical History
Smil Wagner was born October 26, 1909, in Suceava, (S. Bukovino), Romania, where he owned a tailor shop. Wagner was deported from Suceava during World War II and taken to Shargorod (Transnistria) and imprisoned in the ghetto. He brought his sewing machine with him and sewed and repaired garments for the local Ukrainian population in exchange for food. He had a son named Iosef (Joseph). Wagner died, age 82, in 1994.
Archival History
The sewing machine was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Soil Petrariu on behalf of the Federation of Romanian Jewish Communities.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Federation of Romanian Jewish Communities
Scope and Content
Singer sewing machine with wooden table top used by Smil Wagner, a tailor from Suceava, (S. Bukovina) Romania. In 1941-1942, Smil and the other Jews of his town were deported to the Shargorod (Sharhorod) ghetto in Romanian occupied Ukraine. Smil was allowed to bring his sewing machine. He made and repaired garments for the local Ukrainian population in exchange for food. Smil was able to leave the ghetto after the region was retaken by the Soviet Union in 1944.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
a. Black cast iron sewing machine with a triple curve fiddle base. On top of the sewing head are 3 tension rods with finials; on bottom is a needle and presser foot. On base, below needle, is a bobbin case, a shuttle (loop-taker), and metal slide plates, with 1 plate missing. On top of the arm are 2 metal spool pins, with a hole behind 1 rod. Attached to the upright arm is a machine pulley wheel; in front of the shaft are triangular connection rods. The machine arms and base have remnants of a gold painted floral design. The undercarriage mechanics are mostly intact. Hinges on one side attach the machine to the table top. There is a string around the end of the arm where the head meets the horizontal arm. The base wheel stopper is broken off. A gold, oval Singer emblem is attached to the upper arm shaft by 2 brads. b. Rectangular, wood plank, table top with beveled edge and remnants of veneer on both sides. At the top is part of a measuring tape inlay. In the middle is a rectangular opening, lined with a metal tray with rounded ends. To the left of the tray is a metal disk to latch the cover. There is a silver moveable arm, with a handle, to secure the base of machine to the table; 2 adjacent holes attach a rubber belt to the pedal. There are 2 indentations where the machine’s butterfly hinges attach to the table above the tray, with 1 small hole with a metal liner at the needle end. The metal tray is nailed underneath. It is surrounded by a wooden rail and there is an adjacent 2nd wooden rail.
b. on base : L
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Romania--Personal narratives.
- Deportees--Romania--Biography.
- Transnistria (Territory under German and Romanian occupation, 1941-1944)
- World War, 1939-1945--Deportations from Romania--Personal narratives.
- Jews--Persecutions--Romania--Biography.
- Tailors--Ukraine--Biography.
Genre
- Tools and Equipment
- Object