Eyeglasses belonging to a Polish Jewish inmate in Ravensbrueck concentration camp
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 1.610 inches (4.089 cm) | Width: 4.490 inches (11.405 cm) | Depth: 4.490 inches (11.405 cm)
Creator(s)
- Mina Goldstein (Subject)
Biographical History
Mina Lewkowicz (sometimes spelled Minna, later Mina Goldstein) was born on 1 April 1924 in Łódź, Poland. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939 she and her parents were interned in Łódź ghetto in March 1940. Mina and her mother Zlata were deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp in October 1944. Mina worked in the tailor shop sewing SS uniforms. She was paid in camp scrip, but there was nothing to buy with it. Mina was rescued by the Swedish Red Cross in April 1945, when Ravensbrück inmates were transported to Sweden by special arrangement with the German government. Her mother perished in Ravensbrück. She was reunited with her father at a displaced persons camp in Berlin after May 1945. Mina later married Jakob Grochowski (born 20 July 1915), a survivor of the Płaszów ghetto and Mauthausen.
Archival History
The eyeglasses were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1996 by Mina Goldstein.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Mina Goldstein
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Metal-frame surrounded by imitation tortoise shell, circular eye-pieces surrounding glass lenses, with curved ear-pieces.
Genre
- Object
- Personal Equipment and Supplies