Silver engraved candelabrum commemorating the Stolp synagogue saved by refugees from Nazi Germany

Werner Leszynski was born on May 26, 1898, in Konigsberg, in East Prussia, Germany (Kaliningrad (Kaliningradskaia oblast, Russia). He went to Berlin to study at the Friedrich Wilhelms Universitat. He served in the Germany Army during World War I (1914-1918) and lost a leg in action in Syria. He obtained a doctorate in physical chemistry in 1926. He married Olga Nossanowski, a concert pianist, who had been born in Odessa, Russia, on January 19, 1902. The couple had a daughter, Ruth, born in Berlin on February 18, 1935. Werner was editor for the scientific journal of the German Chemical Society from 1926-1937. In early 1939, he was sent by the publishers to Prague. Soon after he arrived, he sent for Olga and Ruth and they arrived in March. Werner and his family were able to escape by airplane for London, England. They obtained visas for the United States and sailed from Glasgow on the SS Cameronia, arriving in the US on July 29, 1940.

Golda Olga Nossanowski was born on January 19, 1902, in Odessa, Russia (Ukraine). She immigrated to Berlin, Germany. She was a concert pianist and performed with chamber orchestras. She married Werner Leszynski, a chemist and editor of the journal of the German Chemical Society. Werner was born in Konigsberg, Germany, on May 26, 1898. The couple had a daughter, Ruth, born in Berlin on February 18, 1935. Hitler had been appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and the increasingly harsh persecutions of Jews made life in Germany extremely precarious. In August 1935, Olga was removed from her position in the Reich Music Chamber by order of the minister of culture because she was Jewish. In early 1939, the scientific journal for which Werner worked sent him to Prague. Soon after he arrived, he sent for Olga and Ruth and they arrived in March. The Bohemia and Moravia region of Czechoslovakia, where Prague was located, was occupied by Germany on March 15, 1939. Olga and her family were able to leave by airplane for London, England. Once there, they obtained visas for the United States and sailed on the SS Cameronia from Glasgow, arriving in the US on July 29, 1940. Werner obtained a position with Schwarzkopf Development Corporation. He had known the owner, Dr. Paul Schwarzkopf, a pioneer in powder metallurgy, in Berlin, and they collaborated on scientific papers. The family settled in Yonkers, New York, where Olga offered piano lessons. Werner died, age 64, on August 2, 1962. Ruth, a public school teacher, died, age 31, on September 8, 1966. Olga passed away in the 1970s.

The candelabrum was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 by Carol Baldridge.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Carol Baldridge