Set of tefillin carried by a young German Jewish Kindertransport refugee
Extent and Medium
a: Height: 4.000 inches (10.16 cm) | Width: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm)
b: Height: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm) | Width: 2.125 inches (5.398 cm)
Archival History
The tefillin were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015 by Kurt Goldsmith.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Kurt R. Goldsmith in memory of his father, Kenneth Kurt Rosenbaum Goldsmith, and his grandparents, Frieda and Siegfried Rosenbaum
Scope and Content
Tefillin pair taken by thirteen year old Kurt Rosenbaum when he was sent by his parents on Kindertransport to Belgium in March 1939. Tefillin are small boxes containing prayers attached to leather straps and worn on the arm and the head by Orthodox Jewish males during morning prayers. Kurt eventually traveled to Portland, OR and was subsequently adopted by the Goldsmith family. In September 1945, he was drafted into the US Army and sent to Okinawa, Japan.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
a-b. Set of leather tefillin, 2 square, black painted, leather boxes (batim) with straps wrapped around the batim. Measurements are of the wrapped batiim and do not include the full length of the straps.
Genre
- Jewish Art and Symbolism
- Object