Archival Descriptions

Displaying items 1,661 to 1,680 of 1,698
Holding Institution: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  1. Striped silk tallit, green velvet bag and white liner used by a Czech Jewish refugee

    1. Frank Meissner family collection
    • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    • irn37625
    • English
    • a: Height: 33.000 inches (83.82 cm) | Width: 75.750 inches (192.405 cm) b: Height: 8.500 inches (21.59 cm) | Width: 13.250 inches (33.655 cm) c: Height: 10.750 inches (27.305 cm) | Width: 13.000 inches (33.02 cm)

    Black striped silk tallit gadol, a prayer shawl worn by Jewish males during morning services, and two storage pouches used by Franz Meissner. Frank, age 16, left Czechoslovakia in October 1939 because of the increasing Nazi persecution of Jews as Czechoslovakia was dismembered by Nazi Germany and its allies. With the encouragement of his family, he left for Denmark with members of Youth Aliyah, a organization that helped people to emigrate to Palestine. In 1943, the Germans began to deport all Jews from Denmark. Frank was warned that the Gestapo was looking for him and he was smuggled on a ...

  2. Belt for a kittel [ceremonial robe] saved by a Czech Jewish refugee

    1. Frank Meissner family collection

    Long, narrow belt for a kittel, a ceremonial robe worn by a Jewish male, used by Norbert Meissner, who was president of the synagogue in Trest, Czechoslovakia, before and during the Holocaust. He and his wife, Lotte, and son, Leo, were deported to Theresienstadt in 1943. A year later, they were sent to Auschwitz death camp where they perished. The belt was preserved by his son, Frank. Frank, age 16, left Czechoslovakia in October 1939 because of the increasing Nazi persecution of Jews as Czechoslovakia was dismembered by Nazi Germany and its allies. With the encouragement of his family, he ...

  3. Blue striped tallit with embroidered Hebrew text used by a Czech Jewish refugee

    1. Frank Meissner family collection

    Embroidered tallit gadol, a prayer shawl worn by Jewish males during morning prayers, used by Franz Meissner. Frank, age 16, left Trest in October 1939 because of the increasing Nazi persecution of Jews as Czechoslovakia was dismembered by Nazi Germany and its allies. With the encouragement of his family, he left for Denmark with members of Youth Aliyah, a organization that helped people to emigrate to Palestine. In 1943, the Germans began to deport all Jews from Denmark. Frank was warned that the Gestapo was looking for him and he was smuggled on a fishing boat to Sweden. He had been recei...

  4. Red and black plastic cigarette holder used by a Czech Jewish refugee

    1. Frank Meissner family collection

    Cigarette holder used by Franz Meissner. Frank, age 16, left Czechoslovakia in October 1939 because of the increasing Nazi persecution of Jews as Czechoslovakia was dismembered by Nazi Germany and its allies. With the encouragement of his family, he left for Denmark with members of Youth Aliyah, a organization that helped people to emigrate to Palestine. In 1943, the Germans began to deport all Jews from Denmark. Frank was warned that the Gestapo was looking for him and he was smuggled on a fishing boat to Sweden. He had been receiving weekly letters from his family, even after their deport...

  5. Medal for Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 awarded to a Jewish Polish veteran of the Soviet Army

    1. Kalman and Pauline Barakan collection

    Medal for Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 with ribbon awarded to Kalman Barakan for his service as a soldier in the Soviet Army during World War II. When Germany invaded Poland in June 1941, Kalman Barakan was a 30 year old lawyer in Bialystok. His home was destroyed and he had to move into a Jewish ghetto and do rough manual labor. He escaped in 1943 and lived in hiding, constantly on the move. In August 1943, the ghetto was destroyed; Kalman’s entire family was murdered in a death camp. In July 1944, the Soviet Army liberated the area and Kalman was forced into a...

  6. Przodownikom Pracy [Socialist Hero of Labor] lapel medal issued to a Jewish official postwar

    1. Kalman and Pauline Barakan collection

    Przodownikom Pracy [Socialist Hero of Labor] medal in the shape of a 7 point star awarded by the Polish government in the 1950s to Kalman Barakan for his exemplary work for the Polish National Enterprise for Foreign Trade in Łódź, Poland. When Germany invaded Poland in June 1941, Kalman Barakan was a 30 year old lawyer in Bialystok. His home was destroyed and he had to move into a Jewish ghetto and do rough manual labor. He escaped in 1943 and lived in hiding, constantly on the move. In August 1943, the ghetto was destroyed; Kalman’s entire family was murdered in a death camp. In July 1944,...

  7. Krzyz Walecznych (Cross of Valor) medal and presentation box awarded to a Jewish conscript in the Soviet Army

    1. Kalman and Pauline Barakan collection
    • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    • irn37886
    • English
    • 1944
    • a: Height: 3.875 inches (9.843 cm) | Width: 1.750 inches (4.445 cm) b: Height: 5.250 inches (13.335 cm) | Width: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm) | Depth: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm)

    Krzyz Walecznych (Cross of Valor) medal with striped ribbon awarded to Kalman Barakan by Poland for his service in the Soviet Army in 1944. When Germany invaded Poland in June 1941, Kalman Barakan was a 30 year old lawyer in Bialystok. His home was destroyed and he had to move into a Jewish ghetto and do rough manual labor. He escaped in 1943 and lived in hiding, constantly on the move. In August 1943, the ghetto was destroyed; Kalman’s entire family was murdered in a death camp. In July 1944, the Soviet Army liberated the area and Kalman was forced into army service until the end of the wa...

  8. Woman's engraved gold wrist watch given to one inmate by another in Auschwitz

    1. Esther Vardi collection

    Gold and silver engraved wrist watch given to 22 year old Esther (Edit) Schaechter in Auschwitz concentration camp around January 1945. The person who gave Esther the watch told her that she knew that Esther was going to survive and she wanted it preserved. Esther kept the watch through the death march to and imprisonment in Bergen-Belsen. Esther had been arrested by the Germans with false papers in Budapest in 1944 where she was active with the Zionist youth movement resistance activities. She was sent to Auschwitz in June 1944, given the number A-10 674, and selected for work duty as a se...

  9. Shanghai Millionaire board game made by 2 German Jewish refugee children

    1. Manfred Lobel collection

    Handmade board game, Shanghai Millionaire, created by 10 year old Manfred and 14 year old Siegfried Lobel in the Hongkew ghetto in Shanghai in 1946. It was based on Monopoly and made from a US Army cardboard "K" rations box. The boys fled Berlin, Germany, with their parents, Gustav and Dora, in 1940, due to the persecution of Jews under the Nazi dictatorship. Since Gustav and Dora were born in Romania, exit visas for the United States did not seem to be an option because of the high quotas. In 1940, they received permits to leave Germany for Shanghai, China. American troops entered the city...

  10. Handmade canvas folder used by a Hungarian Jewish refugee

    1. Lili Scharf Deutsch collection

    Handmade canvas notebook used by Lili Scharf to store correspondence from her family in Israel. It was made for her by her sister, Judith, after her postwar immigration to Israel. In summer 1944, soon after Germany invaded Hungary, Lili, 16, her brother, Bondy, and her parents Herman and Rachel were deported from the Jewish ghetto in Kisvarda to Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Her parents were gassed upon arrival. Bondy was sent to Dachau where he was killed. Lili found her sister Judith, who she thought was in Palestine, in Auschwitz. Lili was sent to Birenbaumel, then via death march to Be...

  11. Lili Scharf Deutsch papers

    1. Lili Scharf Deutsch collection

    Collection of materials including Red Cross letters, correspondence, written between members of the Scharf family, primarily written by the donor after her liberation from Bergen Belsen to her family in Palestine; dated 1937-1946.

  12. Textbook

    1. Manfred Lobel collection

    Textbook used by 10 year old Manfred Lobel in the Shanghai Jewish Youth Association School (SJYA). In 1940, Manfred fled to Shanghai from Berlin, Germany, with his parents, Gustav and Dora, and 14 year old brother Siegfried due to the Nazi persecution of Jews. Since his parents were born in Romania, exit visas for the United States did not seem to be an option because of the high quotas. In 1940, the family received permits to leave Germany for Shanghai. American troops entered the city on September 3, 1945. The family emigrated to the US in 1949.

  13. Prayer book

    1. Frank Meissner family collection

    Prayer book carried and used by Franz Meissner with an inscription dated 1912 inside the front cover. Franz, age 16, left Czechoslovakia in October 1939 because of the increasing persecution of Jews as Czechoslovakia was dismembered by Nazi Germany and its allies. With the encouragement of his family, he left for Denmark with Youth Aliyah, an organization that helped people to emigrate to Palestine. In 1943, the Germans began to deport all Jews from Denmark. Frank was warned that the Gestapo was looking for him and he was smuggled on a fishing boat to Sweden. He had been receiving weekly le...

  14. Textbook

    1. Manfred Lobel collection

    Textbook used by 10 year old Manfred Lobel in the Shanghai Jewish Youth Association School (SJYA). In 1940, Manfred fled to Shanghai from Berlin, Germany, with his parents, Gustav and Dora, and 14 year old brother Siegfried due to the Nazi persecution of Jews. Since his parents were born in Romania, exit visas for the United States did not seem to be an option because of the high quotas. In 1940, the family received permits to leave Germany for Shanghai. American troops entered the city on September 3, 1945. The family emigrated to the US in 1949.

  15. Jewish Brigade Group uniform patch with 1 red stripe worn by a Brigade soldier

    1. Fanny and Leo Englard collection

    Uniform patch worn by Leo Englard when he served as a soldier in the Jewish Brigade Group during World War II. The British Army established the group in September 1944. It included more than 5,000 Jewish volunteers living in Palestine and was the only independent, national Jewish unit to serve in WWII. The unit erved in combat during the final battles for the liberation of Italy. The British dissolved the Brigade in the summer of 1946. Leo remained in Palestine and married Fanny Dominitz, a German Jewish Holocaust survivor who emigrated to Palestine in 1947. The couple had known each other ...

  16. Jewish Brigade Group arm patch with 4 red chevrons worn by a soldier in the Brigade

    1. Fanny and Leo Englard collection

    Chevron patch worn by Leo Englard when he served as a soldier in the Jewish Brigade Group during World War II. The British Army established the group in September 1944. It included more than 5,000 Jewish volunteers living in Palestine and was the only independent, national Jewish unit to serve in WWII. The unit served in combat during the final battles for the liberation of Italy. The British dissolved the Brigade in the summer of 1946. Leo remained in Palestine and married Fanny Dominitz, a German Jewish Holocaust survivor who emigrated to Palestine in 1947. The couple had known each other...

  17. Jewish Brigade Group arm patch with blue and white stripes and a Star of David worn by a Brigade soldier

    1. Fanny and Leo Englard collection

    Military arm patch worn by Leo Englard when he served as a soldier in the Jewish Brigade Group during World War II. This patch is modeled on the emblem previously adopted by the Jewish Agency during the British Mandate in Palestine that became the national emblem following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The British Army established the Jewish Brigade Group in September 1944. It included more than 5,000 Jewish volunteers living in Palestine and was the only independent, national Jewish unit to serve in WWII. The unit served in combat during the final battles for the liberation ...

  18. Jewish Brigade Group embroidered shoulder title patch worn by a Brigade soldier

    1. Fanny and Leo Englard collection

    Shoulder title patch worn by Leo Englard when he served as a soldier in the Jewish Brigade Group during World War II. The British Army established the group in September 1944. It included more than 5000 Jewish volunteers living in Palestine and was the only independent, national Jewish unit to serve in WWII. The unit served in combat during the final battles for the liberation of Italy. The British dissolved the Brigade in the summer of 1946. Leo remained in Palestine and married Fanny Dominitz, a German Jewish Holocaust survivor who emigrated to Palestine in 1947. The couple had known each...

  19. Bent metal shard saved by a soldier in the Jewish Brigade, British Army

    1. Fanny and Leo Englard collection

    Metal piece that belonged to Leo Englard, who served as a soldier in the Jewish Brigade Group during World War II. The British Army established the group in September 1944. It included more than 5000 Jewish volunteers living in Palestine and was the only independent, national Jewish unit to serve in WWII. The unit served in combat during the final battles for the liberation of Italy. The British dissolved the Brigade in the summer of 1946. Leo remained in Palestine and married Fanny Dominitz, a German Jewish Holocaust survivor who emigrated to Palestine in 1947. The couple had known each ot...