Overview
- Date
-
use:
approximately 1941-1945
- Geography
-
use:
Czechoslovakia
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Denise Kopecky
- Markings
- front, center, black ink : Jude [Jew]
- Contributor
-
Subject:
Denise E. Kopecky
- Biography
-
Denise Kopecky (born Denise Elbert or Elbertsova) was born on August 22, 1941 in Nemecka Lupca, Slovakia to Hugo and Alice (Winczer) Elbert. Hugo owned a wholesale business before the war and her mother had taught piano. In March 1939, Nemecka Lupca became part of the newly independent state of Slovakia, whose fascist government moved quickly to impose restrictions on its Jewish population. These measures were intensified in the summer of 1941 when Slovak troops entered the war as allies of the German Reich. Deportations of Slovak Jews to ghettos and camps in Poland began in March 1942 and continued through October. After having their business Aryanized and their personal property confiscated, Denise's parents and Uncle Alexander Elbert were deported to the Lublin district in June 1942. She was left behind with her grandparents, Gejza and Melania Elbert. Her grandfather, however, died suddenly the following month. Denise, who was then less than a year old, was saved from deportation by Maria Bela, a Christian friend of her parents, who had secured a new birth and baptismal certificate for her from a local Lutheran minister in May 1942. After the death of her husband, Melania fled with Denise to the mountains, where they remained for several months. In 1943 they returned to Nemecka Lupca after receiving assurances from the Slovak woman who had taken over Hugo's business, that it was safe to do so. A short time later, however, they were sent to Theresienstadt, where they remained until their liberation by the Soviets in May 1945. Denise was only three years old when the war ended. Following their release, Melania and Denise returned to Nemecka Lupca. Denise later married Richard Kohn, a fellow survivor from Slovakia who had been interned as a young boy in the Novaky labor camp.
Physical Details
- Language
- German
- Classification
-
Identifying Artifacts
- Category
-
Badges
- Object Type
-
Star of David badges (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Yellow cloth badge in the shape of a 6 pointed Star of David. The star outline is formed from 2 overlapping, dyed triangles and has German text in the center. There are cut guide marks printed around the outside of star.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 4.500 inches (11.43 cm) | Width: 4.120 inches (10.465 cm)
- Materials
- overall : cloth, dye, ink
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The Star of David badge was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1998 by Denise Kopecky.
- Funding Note
- The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-09-15 10:19:53
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn12710
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Also in Denise Kopecky collection
The collection consists of three Theresienstadt notes and two Star of David badges relating to the experiences of Denise Elbertova while living in hiding in the Slovak Republic and, after 1944, in Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp during the Holocaust.
Date: 1944-1945
Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 2 kronen note, owned by a child inmate
Object
Scrip, valued at 2 (zwei) kronen, distributed in Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto-labor camp beginning in May 1943. The ghetto currency was printed by the National Bank in 7 similar, beautifully designed denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100. Currency was confiscated from inmates and replaced with scrip for exchange only in the camp. There was little to obtain in exchange for the scrip, except library books. Located thirty miles northwest of Prague in German occupied Czechoslovakia, the ghetto-labor camp was established by the Germans in November 24, 1941, and ceased operation in early May 1945. In 3.5 years, approximately 140,000 Jewish persons were transferred to Terezin; nearly 90,000 were then deported, likely to their death, further east. About 33,000 died in Theresienstadt.
Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 10 kronen note, owned by a child inmate
Object
Scrip, valued at 10 (zehn) kronen, distributed in Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto-labor camp beginning in May 1943. The ghetto currency was printed by the National Bank in 7 similar, beautifully designed denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100. Currency was confiscated from inmates and replaced with scrip for exchange only in the camp. There was little to obtain in exchange for the scrip, except library books. Located thirty miles northwest of Prague in German occupied Czechoslovakia, the ghetto-labor camp was established by the Germans in November 24, 1941, and ceased operation in early May 1945. In 3.5 years, approximately 140,000 Jewish persons were transferred to Terezin; nearly 90,000 were then deported, likely to their death, further east. About 33,000 died in Theresienstadt.
Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 20 kronen note, owned by a child inmate
Object
Scrip, valued at 20 (zwanzig) kronen, distributed in Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto-labor camp beginning in May 1943. The ghetto currency was printed by the National Bank in 7 similar, beautifully designed denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100. Currency was confiscated from inmates and replaced with scrip for exchange only in the camp. There was little to obtain in exchange for the scrip, except library books. Located thirty miles northwest of Prague in German occupied Czechoslovakia, the ghetto-labor camp was established by the Germans in November 24, 1941, and ceased operation in early May 1945. In 3.5 years, approximately 140,000 Jewish persons were transferred to Terezin; nearly 90,000 were then deported, likely to their death, further east. About 33,000 died in Theresienstadt.
