Pair of tefillin and pouch owned by a Polish Jewish immigrant
Extent and Medium
a: Height: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) | Width: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm) | Depth: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm)
b: Height: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Width: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Depth: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm)
c: Height: 1.250 inches (3.175 cm) | Width: 1.750 inches (4.445 cm) | Depth: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm)
d: Height: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Width: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Depth: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm)
e: Height: 9.000 inches (22.86 cm) | Width: 6.250 inches (15.875 cm) | Depth: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm)
f: Width: 63.000 inches (160.02 cm) | Depth: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm)
Creator(s)
- Max Zuckerman (Subject)
Biographical History
Max Zuckerman (1904-1983) was born to Chaim Wolfe (?-1942) and Dvora (?-1942) Cukerman in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Poland, south of Radom. He had eight brothers—including Berish, Pincus, and Shlomo—and two sisters, Mala (later Kiejsman/Kazman, 1897-1979) and Sara (later Nusbaum, 1915-1942). Prior to World War II, over a third of Ostrowiec’s population was Jewish, most whom were Orthodox, such as the Cukermans. In the early 1900s, antisemitism was on the rise in Ostrowiec, and hostility towards Jews intensified. In 1923, Max and his cousin, Joe Glatt, immigrated to Brazil to escape the antisemitism and violent pogroms. There, they worked as peddlers until they saved enough money to immigrate to the United States. Max wrote to his family to implore them to leave Poland and join him in the United States, even offering to pay for their fare. His father, Chaim, declined the offer, after consulting with the local rabbi, who claimed that the family would lose their Jewish heritage if they left. The family was still in Poland when Germany invaded on September 1, 1939, and reached Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski on September 7. The soldiers plundered homes and businesses, and forced the Jewish population to hand over much of their personal property and food. They also subjected the Jewish population to regular beatings, dog attacks, hangings, and shootings. The Germans ordered the establishment of a Jewish Council to facilitate the provision of forced laborers and other demands. In April 1940, Max’s brother, Pincus, was conscripted for forced labor in Częstochowa, Poland, and during the summer, the SS selected a group of young men to send to the forced labor camps near Lublin. Restrictions for the Jewish population continued to tighten, and in April 1941, the Germans ordered the creation of an unfenced Jewish ghetto. 16,000 Jews were forced to move into an area 1.5 square miles in size. Poor sanitary conditions lead to a typhus outbreak in May. Periodically, groups of younger Jews would be sent to forced labor camps. Even though the ghetto was unfenced, the penalty for being caught outside was death. The first Aktion (mass assembly, deportation, and murder) from Ostrowiec began on October 10, 1942.10,000 to 12,000 Jews were forcibly transported to Treblinka killing center, and hundreds of others were shot, burned, and buried in mass graves. Only Jews with work cards were spared. Max’s sister, Sara, was among those who were killed at Treblinka. Those that remained were forced into a small, fenced ghetto, until another deportation on January 10, 1943, and a final deportation at the end of March. Between the final two deportations, German authorities established a forced labor camp in Ostrowiec, which operated until August 1944. Max’s sister, Mala, and four of her eight children worked in this forced labor camp until March 1944, when they were forcibly transported to the Auschwitz and later Gebhardsdorf and St. Georgenthal (subcamps of Gross-Rosen).They were liberated in May 1945, and immigrated to the New York area in 1948. Max’s parents, nine of his siblings, and their families were killed during the Holocaust.
Archival History
The tefillin and pouch were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by Barbara Zuckerman Cooper, the daughter of Max Zuckerman.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Barbara Zuckerman Cooper in memory of her father Max Zuckerman
Scope and Content
A pair of tefillin with cardboard covers and pouch, owned by Max Zuckerman, a Polish Jewish immigrant who left Poland in 1923. Tefillin are small boxes containing prayers attached to leather straps and worn by Orthodox Jewish males during morning prayers. One of eleven siblings born in the town of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Max left to escape growing antisemitism, violent pogroms, and persecution by non-Jewish populations. He immigrated to Brazil where he worked as a peddler until he saved enough money to immigrate to the United States. Max wrote to his family to implore them to leave Poland and join him in the United States, even offering to pay for their fare. His father declined the offer, and German soldiers invaded and occupied the town on September 7, 1939. Between 1939 and 1944, most of the 16,000 Jewish residents were either forcibly transported to Treblinka killing center, killed in Ostrowiec, or conscripted into forced labor. Max’s parents, nine of his siblings, and their families were killed during the Holocaust. The only family members that survived were his sister, Mala, and four of her daughters, who were liberated from a Gross-Rosen subcamp in May 1945 and immigrated to the United States in 1948.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
a. Hand tefillin with a square, black painted, leather box (batim) with smooth sides. The box is centered on a black painted, square, four-layered leather platform, which is sewn together with gut from kosher animals (giddin). The platform has a triangular, notched back with an opening through which a long looped black painted leather strap (retzu’ot) is threaded and knotted on one side. The underside of the strap is unfinished and it is coiled around itself. The interior of the box likely contains a piece of parchment (parshiyot) with four Hebrew prayers written in ink. The bottom of platform is unpainted, and paint is worn/abraded on the top of the platform and around the edges of the box. b. Small, cube shaped, removable cardboard cover for a tefillin. Adhered to the exterior of the cube is yellow paper printed with black ink. Printed on each side is a geometric decorative border with a line of Hebrew text between two dotted lines in the center and a small Star of David above. Printed on the top are two short lines of Hebrew text at the center, surrounded by a thin line square, a border of small circles, and a geometric border. The interior sides of the cube are lined with a loose-weave black fabric and the top is unlined. The exterior edges and corners are very worn and two sides have small losses. c. Head tefillin with a square, black pained leather box (batim) constructed of four leather panels with an embossed Hebrew letter Shin on the left and right sides; the right Shin has four strokes. The box is centered on a black painted, square, three-layered leather platform, which is sewn together with gut from kosher animals (giddin). The platform has a triangular, notched back with an opening through which a long knotted black painted leather strap (retzu’ot) is threaded. The underside of the strap is unfinished. The box interior is divided into four sections, likely containing four parchment scrolls (parshiyot) inscribed with Hebrew prayers written in ink. The black paint on the box has flaked off the back side and worn away around the edges. d. Small, cube shaped removable cardboard cover for a tefillin. Adhered to the exterior of the cube is yellow paper printed with black ink. Printed on each side is a geometric decorative border with a line of Hebrew text between two dotted lines in the center and a small Star of David above. Printed on the top are two short lines of Hebrew text at the center, surrounded by a thin line square, a border of small circles, and a geometric border. The interior sides of the cube are lined with a loose-weave black fabric and the top is unlined. The exterior edges are very worn. The top of the cube appears to have been crushed in, creating an impression and tearing the box along two edges. e. Small, dark red velvet, rectangular pouch with a drawstring made of several knotted strands of sage green thread inserted through a channel near the top opening. On the front, embroidered in yellow thread, is a Star of David with Hebrew text in the center and a swag of leaves underneath. At the bottom of the pouch is a strip of twisted, dark yellow rope fringe, sewn with dark green thread in a straight stitch that goes through to the back of the pouch. The fabric on the back of the pouch is a darker red than the front. The interior lining is a plain red cloth. The velvet nap on the front and back is severely worn, and the front has two small holes along the left-side seam. The embroidery thread is fraying and unraveling, and the trim at the bottom is frayed and beginning to unravel f. Long, brown string tie used to close the tefillin pouch (e). The tie is a woven tube made up of multiple strands of thread. One end is knotted with frayed threads protruding. The other end is knotted approximately 2.5 inches from the end, which is beginning to unravel.
Subjects
- Ethnic conflict--Poland.
- Ethnic attitudes--Poland.
- Ostrowiec Kielecki, Poland.
- Brazil.
- Judaism--Customs and practices.
- Families.
- Emigration and immigration--Poland.
- Judaism--Liturgical Objects--Tefillin.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland.
- United States.
Genre
- Object
- Jewish Art and Symbolism
- Ceremonial objects.