Embroidered floral blouse made prewar by a Polish Jewish woman for her sister

Chava Galicki was born in Siedlce, Poland, to Zeev and Sara Liberman Galicki. She had five siblings: Reizl Shoshana, born circa 1916/1917, Chaja, Dvora, Hersh-Yakov, and Moshe. Her father Zeev was born to Aharon and Lea Galicki. Zeev was a carpenter and an active member of Bikur Cholim, a Jewish organization that visited the sick. Chava’s mother Sara was born to Tzvi Yaakov and Lea Liberman. Sara had a sister, Sheindl, who lived in Warsaw with her husband, Jakob Pasternak, and their children, Moshe and Rivka. Chava’s sister Shoshana married Shalom Feizensztajn, a merchant. In 1933, Chava left for Palestine with a group of haltuzim, or Jewish pioneers. Chava later helped her sister Dvora emigrate to Palestine. In September 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland. Siedlce was under Soviet control until Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Siedlce was occupied by German forces and a sealed Jewish ghetto was formed. In 1942, the Jewish population was killed in mass shootings or deported to Treblinka killing center. Chava and Dvora’s entire family perished in the Holocaust. Chava was later told that her sister Shoshana had been shot in the Siedlce ghetto. Chava married Joseph Lichtenholz and had two daughters.

Reizl Shoshana Galicki was born circa 1916 in Siedlce, Poland, to Zeev and Sara Liberman Galicki. She had five siblings: Chava, Chaja, Dvora, Hersh-Yakov, and Moshe. Her father Zeev was born to Aharon and Lea Galicki. Zeev was a carpenter and was an active member of Bikur Cholim, a Jewish organization that visited the sick. Shoshana’s mother Sara was born to Tzvi Yaakov and Lea Liberman. Sara had a sister, Sheindl, who lived in Warsaw with her husband, Jakob Pasternak, and their children, Moshe and Rivka. Shoshana married Shalom Feizensztajn, a merchant. In 1933, Shoshana’s sister Chava left for Palestine. Chava later helped their sister Dvora emigrate to Palestine. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The Germans occupied Siedlce, located west of the Bug River, a short time, and then handed it over to Soviet forces per the German-Soviet pact, an agreement to divide Poland. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Siedlce was occupied by German forces and a Jewish ghetto was formed in August 1941. Shoshana, Shalom, and their infant daughter were forced into the sealed ghetto, where Shoshana was later shot. The ghetto was liquidated in August 1942, when most of the residents were shipped to Treblinka killing center. Shoshana’s entire family, except her sisters Chaya and Dvora, perished in the Holocaust.

The blouse was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Gila Klepatch and Sara Mages, the daughters of Chava Galicki Lichtenholz and the neices of Reizi Shoshana Feizensztajn.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Gila Klepatch and Sara Mages, in memory of Zeev and Sara Galicki and Reizl Shoshana Galicki Feizensztajn, her husband Shalom and their small daughter, all murdered during the Holocaust

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