Archival Descriptions

Displaying items 301 to 320 of 3,431
  1. Small suitcase used by a Hungarian Jewish family while living in hiding

    1. George Pick family collection

    Small brown suitcase used by ten year old Gyorgy Pick and his parents Margit and Istvan to carry family photos and food while they were living in hiding in Budapest, Hungary, from November 1944 - January 1945. Hungary was an ally of Nazi Germany and adopted similar anti-Jewish laws in the 1930s. Istvan, an engineer, lost his job in May 1939 because he was Jewish. He was conscripted into Hungarian labor battalions in 1940, 1943, and 1944. After German setbacks in the war against the Soviet Union in early 1943, Hungary sought a separate peace. In March 1944, Germany invaded Hungary. The next ...

  2. Hersh Smolar - Minsk ghetto

    Hersh Smolar, was the editor of a Yiddish daily newspaper. After the war began, he became a leading member of the resistance in the Minsk ghetto and the commissar of a partisan group operating in the Belorussian forests. He discusses conditions in the ghetto and resistance activities. FILM ID 3376 -- Camera Rolls #1-3 -- 01:00:07 to 01:30:17 Hersh Smolar was an editor of a Yiddish daily paper in Bialystok and left for Minsk by foot in June/July 1941 to get out. [The Germans advanced into Minsk on June 28, 1941, blocking all roads for evacuation]. He found Minsk abandoned by the Russian gove...

  3. Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 50 kronen note acquired by a Jewish Czech woman

    1. Elizabeth Trausel family collection

    Scrip valued at 50 kronen acquired by Elisabeth (Liese) Trausel who was imprisoned in Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp from fall 1944 until liberation in May 1945. Liese lived in Prague when it was invaded in March 1939, by Germany and made part of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The authorities passed new anti-Jewish regulations that severely restricted Liese’s daily life. In September, Germany invaded neighboring Poland. In September 1941, Liese was required to wear a yellow Star of David badge at all times to identify herself as Jewish. Later that month, Reinhard Heydrich became...

  4. Außenpolitisches Amt

    1. Staatliche und parteiamtliche Akten bis 1945
    2. Deutsches Reich (bis 1945)
    3. NSDAP und angeschlossene Verbände
    4. Reichsleitung
    5. Außenpolitisches Amt

    I. Außenpolitisches Amt (APA)/ Amt Osten: Deutsch-Russische Handelsbeziehungen 1934-1935 [EAP 250-d-18-15/8], unter anderem: 1) Wortlaut der deutsch-russischen Vereinbarungen vom 09. April 1935 über den Waren- und Zahlungsverkehr, 28 S.; *2) Vertrauliches Rundschreiben des Russland-Ausschusses der deutschen Wirtschaft, 03. Dezember 1934-27. August 1935 (mit Anlage, zum Teil Abschrift): Russische Handelspolitik und Wirtschaftslage; Erwartungen und Schwierigkeiten der deutschen Industrie im Russland-Geschäft; Das deutsch-russische Lieferbedingungsabkommen vom 20. März 1935; Erklärung Reichswi...

  5. Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 2 kronen note acquired by a Jewish Czech woman

    1. Elizabeth Trausel family collection

    Scrip valued at 2 kronen acquired by Elisabeth (Liese) Trausel who was imprisoned in Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp from fall 1944 until liberation in May 1945. Liese lived in Prague when it was invaded in March 1939, by Germany and made part of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The authorities passed new anti-Jewish regulations that severely restricted Liese’s daily life. In September, Germany invaded neighboring Poland. In September 1941, Liese was required to wear a yellow Star of David badge at all times to identify herself as Jewish. Later that month, Reinhard Heydrich became ...

  6. Small, hand drawn wooden wagon used by a Sinti family

    1. Gabriel Reinhardt and Theresia Winterstein families collection

    Small wagon used by Rita Prigmore when she was a child in Wurzburg, Germany, and after World War II, to cart bricks from the rubble of bombed buildings to help build a new home for the family. The Winterstein family were Sinti. They had traveled widely in Western and Central Europe until the Nazi regime restricted Sinti migrations in the 1930s. Rita's parents, Theresia Winterstein and Gabriel Reinhardt, met in 1941 when they both worked at the Stadttheater in Wurzburg. Persecution of the Sinti was escalating. They were no longer allowed to work at the theater. Several members of Theresia's ...

  7. Brown burlap covered trunk used postwar by a young German Jewish refugee

    1. Dorit Isaacsohn family collection

    Brown burlap covered plywood trunk used by 16 year old Dorit Isaacsohn and her mother Gertrud during their November 1949 emigration from Berlin, Germany, to the United States. By the late 1930’s, Dorit’s parents had lost their livelihood because of the anti-Semitic policies of the Nazi regime. Dorit, age 6, was sent to Brussels on a Kindertransport in 1939. Germany invaded Belgium in May 1940 and Dorit was returned to her parents in Berlin in 1941. On February 27, 1943, Dorit and her family had to separate to go into hiding. Dorit stayed with a family friend, a cousin, and her father Julius...

  8. Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 5 kronen note acquired by a Jewish Czech woman

    1. Elizabeth Trausel family collection

    Scrip valued at 5 kronen acquired by Elisabeth (Liese) Trausel who was imprisoned in Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp from fall 1944 until liberation in May 1945. Liese lived in Prague when it was invaded in March 1939, by Germany and made part of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The authorities passed new anti-Jewish regulations that severely restricted Liese’s daily life. In September, Germany invaded neighboring Poland. In September 1941, Liese was required to wear a yellow Star of David badge at all times to identify herself as Jewish. Later that month, Reinhard Heydrich became ...

  9. Embroidered priest's stole owned by a German Jewish refugee

    1. Richard Pfifferling and Ruth Pfifferling Knox family collection

    Catholic priest's vestment with French style spade ends owned by Richard Pfifferling. Richard was Jewish and how and when he acquired the stole is not known. In 1933, the Nazi regime came to power and enacted laws that persecuted Jews. Richard and his brothers, Otto and Ernst, fled Dresden, Germany; his brothers to England and Argentina and Richard, in September 1939, to the United States. Their parents, Alexander and Auguste, were unable to leave. Richard later served in the US Army during the war. Richard’s parents were deported to Riga, Latvia, in December 1941, and killed in Auschwitz i...

  10. Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 1 krone note

    1. Elizabeth Trausel family collection

    Scrip valued at 1 krone acquired by to Elisabeth (Liese) Trausel who was imprisoned in Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp from fall 1944 until liberation in May 1945. Liese lived in Prague when it was invaded in March 1939, by Germany and made part of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The authorities passed new anti-Jewish regulations that severely restricted Liese’s daily life. In September, Germany invaded neighboring Poland. In September 1941, Liese was required to wear a yellow Star of David badge at all times to identify herself as Jewish. Later that month, Reinhard Heydrich becam...

  11. Baksztanska and Sierpinski families papers

    The Baksztanska and Sierpinski families papers include biographical material and photographs relating to the pre-war and wartime experiences of Wiera Baksztanska, Stanisław Sierpinski, and their families in Poland and Russia. The collection includes false identity papers and documents Wiera obtained while living in the Warsaw ghetto and in hiding as well as correspondence and writings relating to Stanisław’s work as a physician in the Polish underground. Biographical material includes a false identity card (Kennkarte) for Wiera under the name of Zofia Weronika Wojtuńska, certificates statin...

  12. Pametni Medaile Ceskoslovenska Armada V Zahranici (Czechoslovak Army Abroad) awarded to a Czech Jewish soldier

    1. Frank Meissner collection
    • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    • irn44079
    • English
    • 1939-1945
    • a: Height: 4.250 inches (10.795 cm) | Width: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm) b: Height: 1.750 inches (4.445 cm) | Width: 1.125 inches (2.858 cm)

    Commemorative medal for the Czechoslovak Army Abroad 1939-1945 with ribbon and pin awarded to Franz Meissner for his service from 1944-1945 with the Czech Air Force for the government in exile based in Great Britain. The medal was awarded to those Czechoslovaks who were outside their country at the time of the German invasion, or subsequently escaped abroad, and joined Allied forces or all-Czechoslovak units. Franz arrived in England in September 1944. He was told that if he wanted refuge and a Czech passport, he had to volunteer for the Czech government in exile army. He served in the Roya...

  13. Nazi Party Labor Day pin given to a US soldier by Hermann Göring

    Nazi Party Labor Day 1934 pin, likely given to Lieutenant Jack Wheelis by Herman Göring during his imprisonment at Nuremberg from 1945-1946. Labor Day (also known as May Day) takes place on May 1 to celebrate laborers and the working classes. In April 1933, after the Nazi party took control of the German government, May 1 was appropriated as the “Day of National Work,” with all celebrations organized by the government. On May 2, the Nazi party banned all independent trade-unions, bringing them under state control of the German Labor Front. Soon after the defeat of Nazi Germany in May 1945,...

  14. Concentration camp uniform jacket with a purple triangle worn by a Jehovah’s Witness inmate

    1. Anonymous Jehovah’s Witness collection

    Concentration camp uniform jacket worn by a male Jehovah’s Witness who was imprisoned in Buchenwald and Flossenbürg concentration camps from October 25, 1939, to May 8, 1945. It has a white patch with his Flossenbürg prisoner number, 38641, beside a purple triangle marking him as a Jehovah’s Witness. The Nazi regime persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses, who refused to put any authority before God or serve in the military. In mid-September 1937, he was imprisoned by the Gestapo for leading the local Jehovah’s Witness group, whose activities were considered subversive activity against the Nazi regi...

  15. Lantern and candle used by a Sinti family

    1. Gabriel Reinhardt and Theresia Winterstein families collection
    • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    • irn517652
    • English
    • 1945-1955
    • a: Height: 7.750 inches (19.685 cm) | Width: 3.750 inches (9.525 cm) | Depth: 4.000 inches (10.16 cm) b: Height: 2.370 inches (6.02 cm) | Diameter: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm)

    Lantern used by Theresia Winterstein Reinhardt and her family when they lived in a Sinti camp in Germany after World War II. It could be hung on their wagon or carried by hand. The family had traveled widely until the Nazi regime restricted Sinti migrations in the 1930s. Theresia met Gabriel Reinhardt in 1941 when they both worked at the Stadttheater in Wurzburg. Persecution of the Sinti was escalating. They were no longer allowed to work at the theater. Several members of Theresia's family were forced to agree to sterilization. Theresia and Gabriel decided to have a child, and when Theresi...

  16. Concentration camp uniform coat with a purple triangle worn by a Jehovah’s Witness inmate

    1. Anonymous Jehovah’s Witness collection

    Concentration camp uniform overcoat worn by a male Jehovah’s Witness who was imprisoned in Buchenwald and Flossenbürg concentration camps from October 25, 1939, to May 8, 1945. It has a white patch with his Flossenbürg prisoner number, 38641, beside a purple triangle marking him as a Jehovah’s Witness. The Nazi regime persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses, who refused to put any authority before God or serve in the military. In mid-September 1937, he was imprisoned by the Gestapo for leading the local Jehovah’s Witness group, whose activities were viewed as subversive activity against the Nazi reg...

  17. White silk tallit with black stripes brought with a German Jewish refugee

    1. Richard Pfifferling and Ruth Pfifferling Knox family collection

    White silk tallit with black stripes brought with Richard Pfifferling when he left Dresden, Germany, for New York in September 1939. Richard received the tallit, or prayer shawl, and other religious items as a gift for his bar mitzvah circa 1927. In 1933, the Nazi regime came to power and enacted laws that persecuted Jews. Richard and his brothers, Otto and Ernst, fled Germany but their parents, Alexander and Auguste, were unable to leave. Richard later served in the US Army during the war. Richard’s parents were deported to Riga, Latvia, in December 1941, and killed in Auschwitz in August ...

  18. Dried flowers kept within a memorial book saved by a Hungarian Jewish family while in hiding

    1. George Pick family collection

    Dried flowers preserved from the July 1935 funeral of Samu Kornhauser by his widow Malvina. She pressed the flowers in the memorial book, Kegyelet, the widow's prayer book, between pages 10 and 11. The book is record 1999.282.3. The book was preserved during World War II by Malvina, her daughter Margit Pick, her husband Istvan and son Gyorgy. Malvina, ten year old Gyorgy, and his parents lived in hiding in Budapest, Hungary, from November 1944-January 1945. Hungary, an ally of Nazi Germany, had adopted similar anti-Jewish laws in the 1930s.Istvan, an engineer, lost his job in May 1939 becau...

  19. Woodcut portrait of Leo Baeck owned by a Jewish Polish girl

    1. Julie Keefer family collection

    Woodcut portrait of Leo Baeck, owned by Julie Keefer, a Jewish Polish girl who was in hiding during the Holocaust with her grandfather. Baeck was a Rabbi and intellectual theologian who emerged as an important symbolic and political leader of German Jewry before and during World War II. Baeck helped other Jews emigrate from Germany and fought for Jewish rights. In 1943 he was deported to Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto labor camp, where he gave lectures on philosophy and religion and became a leader among the camp’s Jews. In June 1941, when Julie was two months old, her hometown, Lvov, Pola...

  20. WWI Iron Cross medal awarded to a German Jewish veteran

    1. Maier Firnbacher family collection

    Iron Cross awarded to Maier Firnbacher for bravery while serving in the German Army during World War I; it was issued in 1934. Maier was a cattle trader in Straubing, Germany, when Hitler came to power in 1933. Jews were forbidden to practice certain professions and in 1936, Maier's trading license was revoked. In 1938, he was forced to sell his farmland at a loss to a non-Jew. He got immigration visas for the United States for himself, his wife, Ida, and their 8 year old son, Manfred, but was arrested during Kristallnacht on November 10. He was released after three weeks in Dachau concentr...