Candelabrum fragments from a synagogue destroyed during Kristallnacht

Object | Accession Number: 2000.507.1 a-b

Overview

Brief Narrative: Two pieces of a candelabrum from a synagogue in Mödling, Austria, destroyed by Nazi supporters during Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938. A large broken piece of the candelabrum was found in the backyard of Mrs. Martha Roth, who had salvaged it from the ruins of the burned synagogue. These sections of the candelabrum were given to Henry Freund, a former congregant of the Mödling synagogue, by his wife, Betty, originally from Vienna, who broke off a small piece of the candelabra and brought it to him in San Francisco when she fled Austria in 1939.
Date: found: after 1938 November 09
Geography: found: Moedling (Austria)
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Henry Freund, dedicated to the memory of his mother Gabriele, a victim of the Nazi-Criminals deported to Riga and the other martyrs from the gruesome City of Modling
Contributor: Subject: Henry Freund
Subject: Betty Freund

Classification: Jewish Art and Symbolism
Category: Jewish ceremonial objects
Object Type: Candelabra (lcsh)
Physical Description: Two copper-alloy fragments from a candelabrum: one a cup-shaped candle-holder and the other as a heart with wings. The pieces fit together.
Materials: overall : metal

Topical Term: Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Austria--Biography. Jewish refugees--United States--Biography. Kristallnacht, 1938--Austria--Moedling. Synagogues--Destruction and pillage--Austria--Moedling. World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--United States.

Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: The candelabrum fragments were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2000 by Betty and Henry Freund.
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.