Nail clipper used in a concentration camp
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 2.375 inches (6.033 cm) | Width: 0.500 inches (1.27 cm) | Depth: 0.625 inches (1.588 cm)
Creator(s)
- Alexander Stankiewicz (Subject)
Biographical History
Alexander Stankiewicz, a Roman Catholic, was born on November 16, 1903, in Kamienskoje (or Kaminsk) Poland (or Russia). He was of Polish nationality and lived with his mother, Stanislawa Raczowska. He was barber and hairdresser. In 1941, he lived in Wloclawek, Poland, called Leslau by the occupying Germans. He was arrested February 16 for membership in a Polish political and literary organization, Kujawski Zwiazek Polityczno Literacki Zew. He was sentenced to prison and sent to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. His prisoner number was 24993. On March 11, 1943, he was transferred to a work detail in a nearby subcamp in Linz. After the war, he returned to Poland.
Archival History
The nail clipper part was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Jan Niebrzydowski.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Jan Niebrzydowski
Scope and Content
Part of a nail clipper used by Alexander Stankiewicz while an inmate at Mauthausen concentration camp where he worked as a barber. Stankiewicz was a Roman Catholic Pole, living in Wloclawek, (Leslau) Poland, who was arrested in 1941 by the occupying Germans for his membership in a Polish political and literary organization. At Mauthausen, his prisoner number was 24993. After the war ended in 1945, he returned to Poland.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Elongated, flat strip of silver-colored metal, folded in the middle to form 2 arms that are held apart at the ends by spring action to act as tweezers. The ends are curved and sharp. There is a horseshoe-shaped hanging loop attached to the folded end by a hinge pin.
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Polish.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Personal narratives, Polish.
- Political prisoners--Poland--Biography.
- Concentration camp inmates--Austria.
- Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
Genre
- Personal Equipment and Supplies
- Object