Trunk brought to the United States by an Austrian-Jewish refugee

Friedrich Lifschutz was born on April 17, 1933 in Vienna, Austria, to Moritz (Morris) and Bertha (née Meisels) Lifschutz. Moritz was born on August 30, 1899 in Podhajce, Poland. He had four sisters and many of his immediate family, including his mother, Rebecca, immigrated to the United States in the 1920s. Bertha was born on November 30, 1902, and had one sister. Moritz ran a beauty aid store in Vienna with his brother-in-law, Morris Frankel, who had married Bertha's sister, Helen. Bertha worked at the Rohatyn Bank in Vienna. The couple married in March 1931 and two years later, Bertha gave birth to their only child, Fred. In 1939, Bertha's father was killed in Buchenwald and the family made the decision to send Fred to the United States as part of the "50 children" transport led by Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus. After a summer at the Brith Sholomville camp in Collegeville, PA, Fred went to live with his grandmother and aunt in New York City. To avoid arrest in Vienna, Morris attempted to escape to Switzerland, but was caught and sent back. He was unable to obtain a visa for the United States, so he returned to Podhajce. Podhajce was occupied by the Germans in June 1941 and Morris was killed two months later. Bertha was able to obtain an American visa, immigrated to the United States in January 1940, and reunited with Fred. In the United States, Fred attended City College of New York and worked as a sales representative for toy companies. Bertha eventually married David Pelta, who was a German-Jewish refugee who came to the United States in 1938. Bertha passed away in 1975.

The trunk was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015 by Fred Lifschutz, the son of Bertha Lifschutz.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Fred Lifschutz