Archival Descriptions

Advanced query tips

There are several ways to be more specific in your search query:

"Phrase"
Search an exact match of your query, e.g. "Member lists"
+Phrase
Given word has to be in the result, e.g. +Gestapo
-Phrase
Exclude given word from search, e.g. -Gestapo

Use the following syntax to restrict the search to specific fields:

field:"phrase"
For instance, you can find all descriptions that have the phrase "Auschwitz Birkenau" in their titles by searching for title:"Auschwitz Birkenau".

The following fields are currently available:

  • identifier
  • title
  • creator
  • person
  • place
  • subject
  • address
Displaying items 7,961 to 7,980 of 10,135
Search result ordering

  1. Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 2 kronen note, acquired by a Jewish refugee

    1. Ernest G. Heppner collection

    Scrip, valued at 2 kronen, distributed in Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto-labor camp and acquired post-war by Ernst (Ernest) Heppner. Currency was confiscated from inmates and replaced with scrip, which could only be used in the camp. The scrip was part of an elaborate illusion to make the camp seem normal and appear as though workers were being paid for their labor, but the money had no real monetary value. Ernst was living in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), with his parents, Isidor and Hilda, and his half-sister, Else, who was severely handicapped from contracting polio as a young...

  2. Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 1 krone note, acquired by a Jewish refugee

    1. Ernest G. Heppner collection

    Scrip, valued at 1 krone, distributed in Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto-labor camp and acquired post-war by Ernst (Ernest) Heppner. Currency was confiscated from inmates and replaced with scrip, which could only be used in the camp. The scrip was part of an elaborate illusion to make the camp seem normal and appear as though workers were being paid for their labor, but the money had no real monetary value. Ernst was living in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), with his parents, Isidor and Hilda, and his half-sister, Else, who was severely handicapped from contracting polio as a young ...

  3. Leitz Stativ VI compound brass microscope, case, and accessories used by a Jewish family

    1. Gerard Fields family collection
    • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    • irn522412
    • English
    • a: Height: 11.750 inches (29.845 cm) | Width: 4.500 inches (11.43 cm) | Depth: 5.625 inches (14.287 cm) b: Height: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Width: 6.750 inches (17.145 cm) | Depth: 3.625 inches (9.208 cm) | Diameter: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm) c: Height: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) d: Height: 0.875 inches (2.223 cm) | Width: 0.375 inches (0.953 cm) | Depth: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm) e: Height: 0.875 inches (2.223 cm) | Width: 0.375 inches (0.953 cm) | Depth: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm) f: Height: 13.750 inches (34.925 cm) | Width: 6.125 inches (15.557 cm) | Depth: 7.375 inches (18.733 cm) g: Height: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm) | Width: 1.250 inches (3.175 cm) | Depth: 6.250 inches (15.875 cm) h: Height: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm) | Width: 3.875 inches (9.843 cm) i: Height: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm) | Width: 0.375 inches (0.953 cm) | Depth: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm) j: Height: 9.250 inches (23.495 cm) | Width: 12.000 inches (30.48 cm)

    Leitz brass compound microscope, with fitted case and accessories, that belonged to Gerard Fields. It is likely that the microscope was brought to the US by his father Edgar, a chemical engineer. Edgar and his wife Anna left Germany in 1933 for France rather than live under the Nazi regime. Germany occupied France in June 1940. After Edgar was demobilized from the French Army in 1941, he arranged for the family to go to the US. In December 1941, they sailed from Lisbon, Portugal, to Havana, Cuba, where they waited to receive US visas. In spring 1942, the family left for Chicago, joining Edg...

  4. Czech Air Force pilot badge issued to a Jewish veteran

    1. Frank Meissner collection

    Czech Air Force pilot badge issued to Frank Meissner for his service in the Czech Air Force from 1944-1945 for the Czech government in exile in Great Britain. It may be an observers badge. At the age of 16, Frank left Trest, Czechoslovakia, in 1939 to avoid the increasingly harsh Nazi persecutions of Jews. He went to Denmark with Youth Aliyah to attend agricultural school. In fall 1943, when the Germans decided to deport all Jews from Denmark, Frank was smuggled on a fishing boat to Sweden. During his exile, he received weekly letters from his family, even after their deportation to Theresi...

  5. 1st Anniversary commemorative pin for the victims of Theresienstadt acquired by a Czech Jewish survivor

    1. Frank Meissner collection

    First anniversary commemorative pin for the May 12, 1945, liberation of Theresienstadt concentration camp acquired by Frank Meissner, whose family had been imprisoned in the ghetto/labor camp in Czechoslovakia. On September 16, 1945, there was a public ceremonial burial for 601 victims exhumed from six mass grave sites uncovered at the Small Fortress. From 1940-1945, the Small Fortress served as the prison at the Terezin camp. At the age of 16, Frank left Trest, Czechoslovakia, in 1939 to avoid the increasingly harsh Nazi persecutions of Jews. He went to Denmark with Youth Aliyah to attend ...

  6. Wreath shaped badge owned by a Jewish veteran of the Air Force for the Czech government in exile

    1. Frank Meissner collection

    Wreath shaped pin with a fish owned by Frank Meissner who served in the Czech Air Force from 1944-1945 for the Czech government in exile. At the age of 16, Frank left Trest, Czechoslovakia, in 1939 to avoid the increasingly harsh Nazi persecutions of Jews. He went to Denmark with Youth Aliyah to attend agricultural school. In fall 1943, when the Germans decided to deport all Jews from Denmark, Frank was smuggled on a fishing boat to Sweden. During his exile, he received weekly letters from his family, even after their deportation to Theresienstadt ghetto. The letters stopped in 1943. In the...

  7. Czech lion coat of arms cap badge owned by a Jewish veteran of the Czech Air Force in exile

    1. Frank Meissner collection

    Tinnie, or pressed tin pincap badge owned by Frank Meissner, who served in the Czech Air Force from 1944-1945 for the Czech government in exile. It features the Czech coat-of-arms with the rampant split-tailed lion of Bohemia. At the age of 16, Frank left Trest, Czechoslovakia, in 1939 to avoid the increasingly harsh Nazi persecutions of Jews. He went to Denmark with Youth Aliyah to attend agricultural school. In fall 1943, when the Germans decided to deport all Jews from Denmark, Frank was smuggled on a fishing boat to Sweden. During his exile, he received weekly letters from his family, e...

  8. Enameled stickpin for the Studiosorum World Congress owned by a former Czech Jewish soldier

    1. Frank Meissner collection

    Red and blue enameled stickpin acquired by Frank Meissner during the 1946 Studiosorum Congress in Prague. It features the logo design of a globe, open book, and flaming torch that symbolize youth's persisent quest for knowledge. This was the founding congress of the International Student Union created to promote democracy and education among students of all nations. At the age of 16, Frank left Trest, Czechoslovakia, in 1939 to avoid the increasingly harsh Nazi persecutions of Jews. He went to Denmark with Youth Aliyah to attend agricultural school. In fall 1943, when the Germans decided to...

  9. Watercolor greeting card of his barracks at Beaune-la-Rolande created by a camp inmate

    1. Max Feld and Rose Feld-Rosman collection

    New Year’s greeting card created by 27 year old Max Feld of the barracks where he lived while imprisoned at Beaune-la-Rolande internment camp in France from 1941-1942. Max made the card for his wife, Raisa, and their daughter, Esther, and it includes a handwritten message wishing them “a happy and healthy year.” After Paris was occupied by Germany in May 1940, foreign Jews were in danger of arrest and imprisonment. Max and his wife, Raisa, both deaf, were Jewish refugees from Germany and Poland. In May 1941, Max was arrested and, in July 1942, deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration ca...

  10. 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...

  11. Leather belt with 2 sets of holes worn postwar by Lithuanian labor camp inmate / aid worker

    1. George Birman collection

    Leather belt worn by 22 year old Hirsch Birman following his escape from Kedhanen labor camp in 1944. Hirsch was living in Kovno, (Kaunas) Lithuania, with his father Abel, when Germany occupied the city on June 22, 1941. On August 15, they were forced into a sealed ghetto. Hirsch was sent to labor camp Kedahnen in September 1942, and Abel arrived in spring 1943. During the camp's evacuation on July 9, 1944, due to approaching Russian forces, they escaped through holes that Hirsch cut with pliers in the barbed wire fences. They hid in the forest until local farmers told them it was safe to c...

  12. Pliers used by Lithuanian labor camp inmate to escape

    1. George Birman collection

    Cutting combination pliers used by 22 year old Hirsch Birman to escape the German labor camp, Kedahnen on July 9, 1944. Hirsch was living in Kovno, (Kaunas) Lithuania, with his father Abel, when Germany occupied the city on June 22, 1941. On August 15, they were forced into a sealed ghetto. Hirsch was sent to labor camp Kedahnen in September 1942, and Abel arrived in spring 1943. During the camp's evacuation on July 9, 1944, due to approaching Russian forces, they escaped through holes that Hirsch cut with pliers in the barbed wire fences. They hid in the forest until local farmers told the...

  13. M.41.ZGAPin - Documentation from the Regional State Archive in Pinsk

    M.41.ZGAPin - Documentation from the Regional State Archive in Pinsk The Regional Archive of Pinsk was established in 1940. During the German occupation, the Archive's activity was halted during 1941-1944 and was renewed only in August 1944. The Archive changed its mission following the dissolution of the Pinsk region, and it became the Municipal State Archive of Pinsk in 1954. In September 1996, the Archive changed its definition again, and it became the Local State Archive of Pinsk. As of 30 June 2001 and following, the Archive has been known as the "Scientific-Methodological Institution ...

  14. World Jewish Congress

    This fonds is incredibly rich in information regarding the relation of the WJC with Belgium and the Belgian Jewish community, the refugee question before the war, the Shoah in Belgium, the immediate postwar reconstruction and relief effort, the restitution issue, Jews in the former Belgian Congo, … The files in “Series A. Central Files” (1919-1976) contain correspondence, minutes, records of conferences, and miscellaneous other materials. In its “Subseries 2. Executive Files” – holding files of several WJC leaders – we note the files “Belgium, Kubowitzki, Aryeh L.” (box A9, folder nr. 17; y...

  15. Papers of the Institute of Jewish Affairs

    The records of the Institute of Jewish Affairs have been divided into five main sections, as MSS 237-41, maintaining the subject arrangement that the Institute used for its documentation collections. The records of the London office and British section of the World Jewish Congress are distributed in several places in this arrangement. The archive contains: MS 237: information from the press and other sources MS 238: minute books, together with correspondence files of the London office of the World Jewish Congress, largely for 1933-53, but principally 1942-53 MS 239: correspondence files of ...

  16. Anvil-shaped paperweight given to a US soldier serving as a displaced persons camp administrator

    1. Irving Heymont collection

    Cast iron, anvil-shaped paperweight made by students in Landsberg displaced persons (DP) camp’s vocational school, and presented with gratitude to Major Irving Heymont in October 1945. Heymont, a 27-year-old Jewish American soldier, deployed to Europe and landed in France in January 1945. He served as a regimental operations officer with the 5th Regiment, 71st Infantry Division, nicknamed the Red Circle. On May 4, 1945, the 71st liberated Gunskirchen, a subcamp of the Mauthausen concentration camp system. After Germany’s surrender, Heymont’s battalion assumed control of the Landsberg DP cam...

  17. Silver charm bracelet saved by a young German Jewish refugee

    1. Karlsruher, Schweizer and Eisenmann family collection

    Charm bracelet with twelve charms saved by 18 year old Ruth Karlsruher, when she escaped Nazi Germany with her mother Jetta in August 1940. Ruth had owned the bracelet since she was a young girl. When Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, Ruth was living in Mannheim with her parents, Jella and Nathan. Following Nathan’s death in October 1933, Jella and Ruth moved in with Jella’s daughter from her first marriage, Irene Schweizer, her husband Friedrich, and son Hans. Ruth experienced anti-Semitism constantly. During Kristallnacht on November 10, 1938, Friedrich was sent to Dachau and relea...

  18. Blue and white checkered dish towel embroidered JK saved by a German Jewish prewar emigre

    1. Karlsruher, Schweizer and Eisenmann family collection

    Blue and white checked dish towel monogrammed JK saved by Jella Furth Karlsruher, when she escaped Nazi Germany with her daughter Ruth, 18, in August 1940. Many items from Jella's trousseau, such as the damask napkin, 2013.430.5, and perhaps this item, were sent in crates to Holland and then later to New York. When Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, Jella, her husband, Nathan and Ruth lived in Mannheim. Following Nathan’s death in October 1933, Jella and Ruth moved in with Jella’s daughter from her first marriage, Irene Schweizer, her husband Friedrich, and son Hans. Ruth experienced ...

  19. Silver napkin ring with an engraved floral design and name brought with a German Jewish prewar emigre

    1. Karlsruher, Schweizer and Eisenmann family collection

    Silver napkin ring engraved with her name saved by Jella Furth Karlsruher when she escaped Nazi Germany with her daughter Ruth, 18, in August 1940. Many items from Jella's trousseau, such as the damask napkin, 2013.430.5, and perhaps this item, were sent in crates to Holland and then later to New York. When Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, Jella, her husband Nathan and Ruth lived in Mannheim. Following Nathan’s death in October 1933, Jella and Ruth moved in with Jella’s daughter from her first marriage, Irene Schweizer, her husband Friedrich, and son Hans. Ruth experienced anti-Semi...

  20. Silver napkin ring with an engraved wreath design and name brought by a German Jewish prewar emigre

    1. Karlsruher, Schweizer and Eisenmann family collection

    Silver napkin ring engraved with her name saved by 18 year old Ruth Karlsruher, when she escaped Nazi Germany with her mother Jetta in August 1940. Many items from Jella's trousseau, such as the damask napkin, 2013.430.5, and perhaps this item, were sent in crates to Holland and then later to New York. When Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, Ruth was living in Mannheim with her parents, Jella and Nathan. Following Nathan’s death in October 1933, Jella and Ruth moved in with Jella’s daughter from her first marriage, Irene Schweizer, and her husband Friedrich and son Hans. Ruth experien...