Silver clothes brush used by a German Jewish woman while in hiding

Frieda Lewin Fromm was born on December 4, 1882, in Ortelsburg, Germany (Szczytno, Poland). She married her sister Henriette's husband, Meyer Fromm, born May 1, 1872, in Labiau, Germany (Polessk, Russia), shortly after Henriette died from an appendix operation shortly after the birth of her daughter Ruth in July 1913. They raised five daughters: Edith, born on March 5, 1892, Anna, born on April 7, 1900, in Ortelsburg, Ella, born on March 8, 1902, in Allenstein, Betty, birth date unknown, may have died young, and Ruth, born on July 6, 1913, in Lobau, Germany, and 2 sons who died at a young age. They were an affluent, observant Jewish family. Meyer owned several businesses in Lobau. After Lobau became part of Poland in 1921, Meyer decided to move his family to Allenstein in Germany. Meyer worked as a property manager for Singer Sewing Company and Warner Undergarments. Many of Frieda and Meyer’s daughters married and moved to Berlin. Hitler came to power in January 1933 and antisemitism became official policy in Germany. Frieda and Meyer decided to join their daughters in Berlin sometime after 1936. After the November 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom, life for Jews in Germany became very difficult, and in 1941, deportations of Jews began. In July 1942, Frieda and Meyer received a letter ordering them to be ready for transport on the 22nd. They were taken to the Schulestrasse transport center and deported on July 24, 1942, on transport I-30 to Theresienstadt transit camp in German occupied Czechoslovakia. On September 26, 1942, Frieda, age 61, and Meyer, age 70, were deported from Theresienstadt to Treblinka killing center where they were murdered on arrival.

Reha Abraham was born on January 19, 1943, in Berlin, Germany, to Walter and Ruth Fromm Abraham. Ruth was born on July 6, 1913, in Lobau to Henriette and and Meyer Fromm. Her mother died soon after her birth and Meyer married Henriette's sister Frieda. Walter was born on September 5, 1906, in Frankenthal to Elsa and Julius Abraham. Ruth and Walter were Jewish, but Walter was non-practicing. Reha was delivered in their apartment, in between Allied bombings of Berlin, by Dr. Heller, a Jewish general practitioner, and a German midwife. Walter registered Reha’s birth as a Jew with local authorities, picked the name Reha from a list of approved Jewish names, and received a birth certificate for her. Germany had been ruled by a Nazi dictatorshio since 1933. The regime was determined to rid Germany of Jews and soon after Reha was born, the majority of Berlin Jews had been deported. Reha’s paternal grandparetns and great-grandparents were deported to Gurs internment camp in France in October 1940. Her maternal grandparents were deported on July 24, 1942 to Theresienstadt transit camp on transport I-30. Reha’s maternal aunt and uncle, Ella and Marvin Kessler, and their children, Helga and Johnny, had been deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in early January 1943. Ruth and Walter were forced laborers and feared deportation. On January 22, 1943, three days after Reha’s birth, the family took a train to Strietwald and went into hiding. They paid to live with an older German woman and where they became comfortable. In June 1943, two SS officers arrived at the house to check identity papers. Walter and Ruth provided identity papers that they had been given by Maria Nickel, a non-Jewish German woman Ruth had met when she was 7 months pregnant. The SS officers seized the papers and went to the local police station to check if they were false. Ruth and Walter decided to flee to Berlin before the officers returned. They slept with Reha in phone booths and on park benches before deciding to separate. Walter went to stay with a couple, the Goedes, outside of Berlin. Ruth and Reha lived in hiding in Berlin with the help of the Dutch ambassador’s secretary. Ruth was blond and could pass for an Aryan German and Reha remained with her. When Reha became ill, Maria Nickel passed her off as her own child and took her many time to the hospital for radiation treatments for a malignant growth. Ruth and Reha later lived in hiding with the help of a woman, Ruth Martin, in Neudamm (now Debno, Poland). Childcare supplies were hard to get and they would search the rubble for items, and once found a baby carriage. The area was liberated by the Soviet army in spring 1945. Walter was briefly imprisoned by the Soviets because they suspected he was a Nazi spy. The war ended with Germany's surrender on May 7, 1945. After his release, the family returned to Berlin. Many of their relatives had been killed in camps. They found out that Ruth’s parents, Frieda and Meyer, had been deported on September 26, 1942, from Theresienstadt to Treblinka killing center where they were murdered. Ruth's sister and brother-in-law, Ella and Marvin, and their children, Helga and Johnny, had been killed at Auschwitz in January 1943. Ruth’s other sisters had fled with their families to the United States and England. Walter’s father, Julius, had been deported from Gurs to Drancy internment camp, and, on March 3, 1943, sent to Majdanek concentration camp in Lublin, Poland, where he was killed in September 1943. Walter’s grandparents, Ludwig and Clara, perished in Gurs. His mother, Elsa, survived the war in France, aided by her knowledge of French. She left France for the U.S. in 1948. Ruth, Walter, and Reha emigrated to New York with the aid of a distant relative, Gustav Klein in Philadelphia, on June 13, 1948, sailing on the SS Ernie Pyle. Reha's brother was born in June 1952. Maria Nickel (1910-2001) was recognized by Yad Vashem in 1970 as Righteous Among the Nations. Walter, 73, died in September 1979. Ruth, 90, passed away on August 25, 2003.

Ruth Fromm was born on July 6, 1913, in Lobau, Germany, to Henriette and Meyer Fromm, born on May 1, 1872, in Labiau, Germany (Polessk, Russia). Henriette died from an appendix operation shortly after her birth and her father married her mother’s sister, Frieda, born on December 4, 1882, in Ortelsburg, Germany (Szczytno, Poland). Ruth was the youngest of 4 sisters: Edith, born on March 5, 1892, Anna, born on April 7, 1900, in Ortelsburg, Ella, born on March 8, 1902, in Allenstein, and Betty, birth date unknown, and 2 brothers who died at a young age. They were an affluent, observant Jewish family. Ruth’s father was a businessman. After Lobau became part of Poland in 1921, Meyer decided to move his family to Allenstein. Ruth’s sisters married and moved to Berlin, and Ruth joined them. Her parents moved to Berlin sometime after 1936. In February 1938, Ruth visited her sister, Betty, in Haifa, Palestine, but had to return to Berlin in June so her father cold recover the bond he had registered at the British consulate. That August, Ruth met Walter Abraham, born on September 5, 1906, in Frankenthal, Germany, to Elsa and Julius Strauss Abraham. Elsa was born in Durkheim on February 6, 1892, and Julius in Borsborn on August 6, 1878. Walter’s parents lived in Mannheim near his grandparents, Ludwig and Clara Strauss. They were a secular Jewish family. Walter was a partner in his father’s furniture business. He later became a partner at the furniture store, Fechner and Preidel, near Alexanderplatz in Berlin. During the November 9-10 Kristallnacht [Night of Broken Glass] pogrom, Walter’s store was destroyed. Ruth and Walter married on January 15, 1939. They shared an apartment with an elderly Jewish couple near Ruth’s family. In October 1940, Walter’s parents, Julius and Elsa, and his grandparents, Ludwig and Clara, were deported from Mannheim to Gurs internment camp in southern France. In March 1941, Ruth and Walter were assigned to forced labor. Ruth worked for Starke Pharmaceutical, which made aspirin for the German army. Walter’s work assignments varied. In September 1941, German Jews were ordered to wear a yellow Star of David badge on their clothing. Ruth would reverse her coat, hiding her badge, and because she had blonde hair, blue eyes, and did not look Jewish, was able to walk around without raising suspicion. Ruth became pregnant in spring 1942. In July, Ruth’s parents, Frieda and Meyer Fromm, received a letter to prepare for transport on July 22, 1942. They were taken to Schulestrasse transport center and deported on July 24, 1942, to Theresienstadt transit camp on transport I-30. Ruth and Walter feared deportation, and they sold furniture from her parent’s apartment to begin saving cash to go into hiding. They tried to obtain visas to leave the country, but were not successful. In November 1942, when Ruth was 7 months pregnant, she met a non-Jewish German woman, Maria Nickel, a young mother, who gave her food as well as the identity papers issued to herself and her husband, Willi. In January 1943, Ruth’s sister and brother-in-law, Ella and Marvin Kessler, and their children, Helga and Johnny, were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. On January 19, 1943, Ruth and Walter’s daughter, Reha, was born in between Allied bombings of Berlin. Two days later, Walter registered Reha’s birth as a Jew with local authorities, picked the name Reha from a list of approved Jewish names, and received a birth certificate for her. On January 22, 1943, Ruth, Walter, and Reha, took a train to Strietwald. They paid to live with an older German woman and became comfortable. In June 1943, two SS officers arrived at the house to check identity papers. Walter and Ruth provided the identity papers given to them by Maria Nickel. The SS officers seized the papers and went to the local police station to check if they were false. Ruth and Walter decided to flee to Berlin before the officers returned. They slept with Reha in phone booths and on park benches before deciding to separate. Walter went to stay with a couple, the Goedes, outside of Berlin. Ruth and Reha lived in hiding in Berlin with the help of the Dutch ambassador’s secretary. When Reha became ill, Maria Nickel passed her off as her own child and took her to the hospital for several radiation treatments for a malignant growth. Ruth and Reha later lived in hiding with the help of a woman, Ruth Martin, in Neudamm (later Debno, Poland). The area was liberated by the Soviet army in spring 1945 and the war ended with the May 7 surrender of Germany. Walter was imprisoned by the Soviets for a brief period because they suspected he was a Nazi spy. After his release, the family returned to Berlin. They found out that Ruth’s parents, Frieda and Meyer, had been deported on September 26, 1942, from Theresienstadt to Treblinka killing center where they were murdered. Her sister and brother-in-law, Ella and Marvin, and their children, Helga and Johnny, had perished at Auschwitz in January 1943. Ruth’s other sisters had fled with their families to the United States and England. Walter’s father, Julius, had been deported from Gurs to Drancy internment camp, and, on March 3, 1943, sent to Majdanek concentration camp in Lublin, Poland, where he was killed in September 1943. Walter’s grandparents, Ludwig and Clara, perished in Gurs. His mother, Elsa, survived the war in France, aided by her knowledge of French. She left France for the U.S. in 1948. Ruth, Walter, and Reha emigrated to New York with the aid of a distant relative, Gustav Klein in Philadelphia, on June 13, 1948, sailing on the SS Ernie Pyle. A son was born in June 1952. Maria Nickel (1910-2001) was recognized by Yad Vashem in 1970 as Righteous Among the Nations. Walter, 73, died in September 1979. Ruth, 90, passed away on August 25, 2003.

The clothes brush was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2014 by Reha Abraham Sokolow, the daughter of Ruth Abraham.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum collection, gift of Reha Abraham Sokolow

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