Archival Descriptions

Displaying items 1 to 20 of 1,698
Holding Institution: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  1. Benjamin Murmelstein - Theresienstadt Judenaelteste

    Benjamin Murmelstein, a rabbi and intellectual, worked closely with Adolf Eichmann in Vienna and became the last head of the Jewish Council in Theresienstadt. He defends his behavior against the many who have criticized him since the war and provides important details about the functioning of Eichmann's Central Office for Jewish Emigration. The sound on these tapes is problematic. Claude Lanzmann's questions are sometimes inaudible (they often do not appear in the transcripts). The audio sometimes outlasts the video image. The first few tapes show Murmelstein and Lanzmann outside on a balco...

  2. Double sided caricature of a couple made as a gift for one camp inmate by another

    1. Charles and Hana Bruml family collection

    Two joined drawings, a humorous drawing of Karel Fischer and his wife Anna, and a pencil portrait of Fischer drawn by Leo Haas when they were all prisoners in Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp circa 1942- October 1944. It was presented to Fischer on his sixth wedding anniversary, March 20, 1944, by his workers. After the war, Fischer gave the drawing to his nephew and fellow Terezin inmate, Karel Bruml. In March 1939, Prague was annexed by Nazi Germany. Fischer, 49, was ordered to the newly opened camp in late November 1941 to build the railroad spur from Bauschowitz to Terezin. He was in ch...

  3. Aleksander Kulisiewicz sound recordings - Cassette Tapes [TK]

    1. Aleksander Kulisiewicz collection

    52 cassette tapes including recordings compiled by Aleksander Kulisiewicz consisting of songs, poetry, interviews, lectures, radio broadcasts, and other music programs. Cassette 4, TK 5 Side A includes a duplicate recording of a lecture-demonstration given by Aleksander Kulisiewicz (A.K.) at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, 12 Feb 1974 as re-recorded on 14 May 1974 in Paris. Various Polish camp songs performed by A.K. with guitar accompaniment are followed by a discussion of these songs both in Polish and in French. Side B consists of a concert of Polish camp songs performed in -Tarnowskie-Go...

  4. Inge Deutschkron

    Inge Deutschkron, a German Jew who appears only briefly in Lanzmann's completed film, witnessed the increasing persecution and violence in Berlin, including the promulgation of the Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht. Her father escaped to England but she and her mother remained behind and went into hiding in 1943. Lanzmann interviews her in a coffee house in Berlin in which she remembers seeing a "Jews Not Wanted" sign during the Nazi years. FILM ID 3420 -- Camera Rolls #1-3 -- 01:00:08 to 01:33:06 CR 1 Inge Deutschkron sits in a café speaking with Lanzmann. She expresses feeling strange, sin...

  5. The Secret Annex First edition of Anne Frank’s Het Achterhuis given to a Dutch couple dagboekbrieven van 12 Juni 1942 - 1 Augustus 1944 diary letters from 12 June 1942 - 1 August 1944

    1. Ryan M. Cooper collection
    • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    • irn652080
    • English
    • 1947
    • a: Height: 7.375 inches (18.733 cm) | Width: 4.375 inches (11.113 cm) | Depth: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm) b: Height: 8.375 inches (21.273 cm) | Width: 5.125 inches (13.017 cm) | Depth: 1.250 inches (3.175 cm)

    One of two copies of the first edition of Anne Frank’s “Het Achterhuis” (“The Secret Annex”), given to Miep and Jan Gies by Anne’s father, Otto Frank. The book includes the original dust jacket and protective clamshell case, and was one of 1500 copies printed in the first run. Anne Frank was a German Jewish girl who immigrated to Amsterdam, Netherlands, with her parents, Otto and Edith, and older sister, Margot. Germany invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940. Under German occupation, antisemitic restrictions were enforced, and Otto set up a hiding place in the attic of his business. The fa...

  6. Set of 16 scene stills for the film “Ostatni Etap” (1948)

    1. Cinema Judaica collection
    • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    • irn692975
    • English
    • .1: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .2: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .3: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .4: Height: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) | Width: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) .5: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .6: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .7: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .8: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .9: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .10: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .11: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .12: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .13: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .14: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .15: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) .16: Height: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)

    Set of 16 American scene stills for the film, “Ostatni Etap,” (“The Last Stop” or “The Last Stage”) originally released in Poland in March 1948, and released in the United States in 1949. Scene stills are photographs taken on or off the set of a motion picture and used as marketing and advertising tools. The film centers on prisoners staffing the women’s camp hospital at Auschwitz and their attempted resistance activities. The film was the first theatrical Holocaust feature made in Eastern Europe following the war, and was one of the earliest epic films to center on women. It was filmed in ...

  7. Monogrammed napkin owned by Otto and Edith Frank

    1. Ryan M. Cooper collection

    Cotton napkin, embroidered with the initials of Otto and Edith Frank, gifted to them for their wedding on May 8, 1925. Otto and Edith had two daughters, Margot and Anne, and lived in Frankfurt, Germany. After Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in January 1933, authorities quickly began suppressing the rights and personal freedoms of Jews, and boycotting their businesses. Germany invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940, and under occupation, the Netherlands became subject to the Nuremburg laws. As restrictions continued to tighten, and antisemitism grew, Otto set up a hiding pl...

  8. Monogrammed tablecloth owned by Otto and Edith Frank

    1. Ryan M. Cooper collection

    Cotton tablecloth, embroidered with the initials of Otto and Edith Frank, gifted to them for their wedding on May 8, 1925. Otto and Edith had two daughters, Margot and Anne, and lived in Frankfurt, Germany. After Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in January 1933, authorities quickly began suppressing the rights and personal freedoms of Jews, and boycotting their businesses. Germany invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940, and under occupation, the Netherlands became subject to the Nuremburg laws. As restrictions continued to tighten, and antisemitism grew, Otto set up a hidin...

  9. Set of tefillin buried for safekeeping and recovered postwar

    1. Gisela E. Zamora collection
    • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    • irn515327
    • English
    • a: Height: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Width: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm) | Depth: 3.500 inches (8.89 cm) b: Height: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) | Width: 2.125 inches (5.398 cm) | Depth: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm)

    Pair of tefillin buried for safekeeping by Marcus and Josef Zamojre while living in hiding in Taglio-di-Po, Italy. The tefillin, which had belonged to Marcus, were recovered by Josef after the war. Tefillin are small boxes containing prayers worn by Orthodox Jewish males during morning prayers. In December 1940, Josef and Marcus fled from Frankfurt in Nazi Germany, to Graz on the Austrian-Yugoslav border. After several failed attempts to cross the border, they reached Zagreb in March 1941. In April, Germany invaded Yugoslavia and, in July, Josef and Marcus escaped to Italian occupied Ljublj...

  10. Abba Kovner - Vilna

    Abba Kovner lived in disguise in a convent at the beginning of the German occupation in 1941. He was a central figure in the Zionist youth resistance movement in Vilna. He commanded an underground partisan resistance group throughout the war. He describes the way the Germans avoided panic among the Jews. Kovner maintains a poetic approach to Lanzmann's questions throughout the interview. This interview took place over two days in Kovner's Kibbutz Eyn Ha'horesh (between Nethania and Hadera). FILM ID 3236 -- Camera Rolls #2,3 -- 01:00:12 to 01:24:55 CR 2 01:00:12 Kovner sits outside on a park...

  11. Large brown suitcase used by Hungarian Jewish refugees on the Kasztner train

    1. Bela Gondos family collection

    Large suitcase carried by Dr. Bela Gondos when he was transported from Budapest, Hungary, to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on the Kasztner train in June 1944 with his wife Anna and 7 year old daughter Judit. They were advised to bring all their belongings. Each carried a suitcase filled with their best clothing since they believed they were going to Portugal. They used it as a bed, table, and chair on the cattle car to the camp. Jews were increasingly persecuted by the Hungarian regime, which had anti-Semitic policies similar to Germany's. Bela worked on 2 or 3 forced labor battalions un...

  12. Tefillin storage pouch buried for safekeeping and recovered postwar

    1. Gisela E. Zamora collection

    Tefillin storage bag buried for safekeeping by Marcus and Josef Zamojre while living in hiding in Taglio-di-Po, Italy. The pouch and tefillin, which had belonged to Marcus, were recovered by Josef after the war. Tefillin are small boxes containing prayers worn by Orthodox Jewish males during morning prayers. In December 1940, Josef and Marcus fled from Frankfurt in Nazi Germany, to Graz on the Austrian-Yugoslavian border. After several failed attempts to cross the border, they arrived in Zagreb in March 1941. In April, Germany invaded Yugoslavia and, in July, Josef and Marcus escaped to Ita...

  13. Paula Biren

    Paula Biren was a young Jewish woman living in Łódź, Poland when the Germans invaded in 1939. She survived the Łódź ghetto and Auschwitz. In her interview with Claude Lanzmann, Biren describes the occupation of Łódź, ghettoization, the children's Aktion of September 1942, and her deportation to Auschwitz. FILM ID 3105 -- Camera Rolls #1-4 -- 03:00:09 to (03:00:09) Biren and Lanzmann are seated outdoors. Lanzmann begins the interview by asking her to start at the beginning, the moment the Germans entered Łódź, what her feelings were, and if she knew at that time what would be at stake. She s...

  14. Aluminum food container lid used by a Hungarian Jewish family on the Kasztner train

    1. Bela Gondos family collection

    Metal food container lid used by Bela, Anna, and Judit Gondos when they were transported from Budapest, Hungary, to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on the Kasztner train in June 1944. The family often hiked at Svabhegy, a hill outside Budapest, and used the container with the now missing base for their picnics. Jews were increasingly persecuted by the Nazi-influenced Hungarian regime. Bela worked on 2 or 3 forced labor battalions until released in 1942 because he was a physician. On March 19, 1944, Germany invaded Hungary and the authorities prepared to deport all the Jews from Hungary to ...

  15. Embroidered dress worn by a Polish Jewish girl in hiding

    1. Lola and Walter Kaufman collection

    Embroidered dress made for Lola Rein by her mother Dvoire in the ghetto and worn while she was in hiding near Czortkow, Poland, from approximately May 1943 to March 1944. In September 1939, the Soviet Union occupied Czortkow. Germany invaded in June 1941. Lola’s father Yidl died in the ghetto in 1942. On March 21, 1943, her mother was shot and killed while going to work. In May, Lola’s maternal grandmother Ekka sent Lola to hide with a Ukrainian woman. In August, the woman’s son-in-law threatened to turn Lola in to the Gestapo, so she took Lola to her sister’s farm. Lola and three other Jew...

  16. Motke Zaidel and Itzak Dugin

    Motke Zaidel and Itzak Dugin are survivors of Vilna. They tell the story of their extraordinary escape from the Ponari camp, digging a tunnel for months, where the dogs that caught them backed away whimpering because the men smelled of death. The interview took place over two days in the forest of Ben Shemen (an Israeli forest resembling Ponari) and in Mr. Zaidel's apartment in Peta'h Tikva with the family of Zaidel. FILM ID 3782 -- Camera Rolls 2-4 -- Foret Ponari CR2 Lanzmann, Zaidel and Dugin meet in a forest in Israel which resembles the forest of Ponari, next to Vilna. Before the war t...

  17. Medal honoring soldiers killed during the invasion issued to a Dutch resistance leader

    1. Felix and Flory Van Beek collection

    Medal honoring soldiers who died in the May 1940 invasion, with shield and broken sword, awarded to Piet Brandsen by Stichting 1940-1945 for his bravery and resistance activities during the German occupation of the Netherlands from May 1940-May 1945. The six medals in the series honor the following: 1. For the soldiers who fell in the May 1940 invasion [this medal, 1990.23.240.3]; 2. For those who endured the bombardments and attacks (1990.23.240.3; 3. For victims of torture and betrayal (1990.23.240.3]; 4. For those who suffered in the concentration camps (1990.23.240.3; 5. For those who w...

  18. Pery Broad

    Pery Broad spent two years as a guard in Auschwitz Birkenau. Broad voluntarily wrote a report of his activities whilst working for the British as a translator in a POW camp after the war. The Broad Report corroborates extermination installations and the burning of corpses. This interview was filmed in 1979 with a hidden camera, known as a Paluche, which caught fire. FILM ID 3438 -- Camera Rolls 1A -- 02:00:18 to 02:12:29 Lanzmann and Broad begin the interview by discussing the recently presented television miniseries, Holocaust. Broad states that he can face the past, but cannot dominate it...

  19. Small leather suitcase used by a Hungarian Jewish family while living in hiding

    1. George Pick family collection
    • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    • irn514721
    • English
    • a: Height: 5.250 inches (13.335 cm) | Width: 17.375 inches (44.133 cm) | Depth: 11.125 inches (28.258 cm) b: Height: 0.625 inches (1.588 cm) | Width: 5.875 inches (14.923 cm) | Depth: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm)

    Small leather case used by Malvina Kornhauser from November 1944 until January 1945 while she was staying in a Swedish protected building and then in the Budapest ghetto in German occupied Hungary. The suitcase was purchased by her son-in-law Istvan Pick during the 1930s for use in his job as a traveling sales engineer for grape presses for the Rokk Istvan Machine factory. Before November, Malvina lived with her daughter Margit Pick, her husband Istvan, and son Gyorgy. Hungary was an ally of Nazi Germany and adopted similar anti-Jewish laws in the 1930s. Istvan, an engineer, lost his job in...

  20. Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 20 kronen note

    1. Felix and Flory Van Beek collection

    Theresienstadt scrip, valued at 20 (zwanzig) kronen, acquired by Flory Cohen Levi, who survived in hiding in her native Netherlands during the war. This type of scrip was distributed in Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto-labor camp from May 1943-April 1945 in German occupied Czechoslovakia. Flory met Felix Levi, a refugee from Hitler's Germany, in the mid-1930s. After Germany invaded Poland, Felix convinced Flora to flee. In November 1939, they sailed for South America aboard the SS Simon Bolivar, which was sunk by German mines. They were rescued by the British military and taken to a hospital...