Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Iron Cross awarded to Max Wachtel for service in the German Army during World War I, 1914-1918. After four years of increasingly antisemitic Nazi rule, Max’s shoe factory in Erfurt, Germany, was confiscated in 1937 because he was Jewish. Max was able to get immigration visas for the United States, with the sponsorship of relatives in Ohio. On May 14, 1938, Max, his wife Erna, and children, Ursula and Hans, sailed from Hamburg to the US on the President Roosevelt. They arrived on May 21 and settled in Cincinnati.
- Date
-
commemoration:
1914-1918
emigration: 1938 May 14
- Geography
-
issue:
Germany
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Andrea K. Wolf and Thomas M. Wolf
- Markings
- a. obverse, top, embossed : FW
a. obverse, bottom, embossed : 1813
a. reverse, center, embossed : W
a. reverse, bottom, embossed : 1914 - Contributor
-
Subject:
Max Wachtel
- Biography
-
Max Wachtel was born on June 17, 1884, in Erfurt, Germany, and owned a factory which manufactured heels for shoes. His family had lived in Germany since the Middle Ages. During WWI, Max served in the German Army for four years and was decorated with the Iron Cross. Max married Erna Bielschowsky, also from Erfurt, on December 25, 1910. The Wachtel family belonged to a Conservative synagogue. Ilsolotte, the eldest daughter, was born on November 11, 1911, another daughter, Ursula was born on January 1, 1915, and their son Hans Joseph was born on December 27, 1922 in Erfurt. In 1937, Max's factory was confiscated. He was able to arrange for U.S. immigration visas with sponsorship from family relatives in Cincinnati, Ohio. On May 14, 1938 Max, Erna, Ursula, and Hans Wachtel sailed from Hamburg, Germany to New York on the "President Roosevelt" arriving on May 21, 1938. The Wachtel family settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. Max started a landscaping business, Erna worked as a seamstress, and Ursula worked as a beautician. Hans volunteered for the U.S. Army in 1941, and served in Europe during World War II, returning to Cincinnati after his discharge in 1945. Ilsolotte had immigrated to Norway to work as a governess before the Wachtel family immigrated to the United States, she married and stayed there.
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Military Insignia
- Category
-
Medals
- Object Type
-
Medals, German (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- a. Blackened iron medal in the form of a cross pattee with concave arms with a silver colored, reeded line border. The front has an embossed vertical design: at the top of the central arm is a crown, then the letters FW, a sprig of 3 oak leaves and 2 acorns, and, at the bottom, the date 1813. On the reverse descending from the top of the central arm is a crown, in the center a W, and, at the bottom, the date 1914. A suspension ring is attached at the top.
b. Grosgrain ribbon with the following vertical stripes: black, white, red, white, black, threaded through a ring attached to the crown at the top of the medal (a). - Dimensions
- a: Height: 2.375 inches (6.033 cm) | Width: 1.750 inches (4.445 cm)
b: Height: 11.375 inches (28.893 cm) | Width: 1.250 inches (3.175 cm) - Materials
- a : metal
b : ribbon
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Personal narratives. Jewish refugees--United States--Biography. Jews--Persecutions--Germany--Biography. World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--United States--Personal narratives, German. World War, 1914-1918--Military personnel--German--Personal narratives. World War, 1914-1918--Participation, German.
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The Iron Cross medal was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2009 by Andrea Wolf and Thomas Wolf, the grandchildren of Max Wachtel.
- Record last modified:
- 2022-07-28 21:51:08
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn40039
Also in Max Wachtel and Herbert Wolf family collection
The collection consists of artifacts, documents, and photographs relating to the experiences of Max Wachtel and his family and Herbert Wolf and his family in Germany and the United States before and during the Holocaust, as well as items related to Hans Wachtel and his service in the United States Army during World War II.
Date: 1914-1945
US Army patch that belonged to a German Jewish refugee
Object
Military patch that may have belonged to Hans Wachtel, who served in the United States Army from 1942-1945. It resembles a standard army rank patch for a Master Sergeant that has been trimmed. Hans and his family had left Nazi Germany in 1937 after the shoe factory owned by his father, Max, in Erfurt, Germany, was confiscated because he was Jewish. Max was able to get immigration visas for the US and on May 14, 1938, 16 year old Hans, his parents, and his sister sailed from Hamburg on the President Roosevelt. Hans volunteered for the U.S. Army on May 14, 1941. He was trained to interrogate German POWs and to go undercover behind enemy lines. On June 18, 1944, Hans landed in Normandy as part of the 6th Armored Division. On April 11, 1945, the 6th Armored Division liberated Buchenwald concentration camp. Hans was awarded the Bronze Star Medal in May and was honorably discharged later that year.
US Army technician shoulder patch that belonged to a German Jewish refugee
Object
US Army Technician, 5th grade patch that may have belonged to Hans Wachtel, who served in the United States Army from 1942-1945. Hans and his family had left Nazi Germany in 1937 after the shoe factory owned by his father, Max, in Erfurt, Germany, was confiscated because he was Jewish. Max was able to get immigration visas for the US and on May 14, 1938, 16 year old Hans, his parents, and his sister sailed from Hamburg on the President Roosevelt. Hans volunteered for the U.S. Army on May 14, 1941. He was trained to interrogate German POWs and to go undercover behind enemy lines. On June 18, 1944, Hans landed in Normandy as part of the 6th Armored Division. On April 11, 1945, the 6th Armored Division liberated Buchenwald concentration camp. Hans was awarded the Bronze Star Medal in May and was honorably discharged later that year.
Wachtel and Wolf families papers
Document
Collection of letters, documents, and photographs relating to Max and Erna Wachtel from Erfurt, Germany; their daughter Ursula Wachtel (donor's mother); and her brother Hans Wachtel, who served in the US Army and wrote letters to his parents while during the war. Also includes a passport and other documents relating to Herbert Wolf (donor's father), from Freiburg, Germany.
