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Green metal Werk Kratzau labor camp badge worn by an inmate

Object | Accession Number: 1989.296.1
1989.296.1 front Green metal Werk Kratzau labor camp badge worn by an inmate Click to enlarge

Green painted identification pin impressed Werk Kratzau issued to Helen Waterford at Kratzau-Chrastava labor camp, a satellite camp of Gross Rosen concentration camp, where she was interned from October 1944 until May 1945.

Date
use:  1944 October-1945 May
Geography
issue: Kratzau I (Concentration camp); Chrastava (Czech Republic)
Language
German
Classification
Identifying Artifacts
Category
Badges
Object Type
Forced labor badges (ushmm)
Credit Line
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Helen Waterford, In memory of my husband Siegfried Wohlfarth, who did not return, the father of my only child Doris Kuperman

About This Object

Physical Description
Five sided silver colored metal badge, square with a pointed, triangular top, a blue-green painted recessed field, and a central equilateral triangle enclosing a circle above the German words Werk Kratzau. A safety pin clasp is inserted horizontally through a plate and soldered on the back.
Dimensions
overall: Height: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Width: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Depth: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm)
Materials
overall : metal, paint
Inscription
front, raised : Werk / Kratzau
Contributor
Subject: Helen H. Waterford
Biography
Helen H. Waterford is a native of Offenbach, Germany, and a survivor of Auschwitz. Waterford and her first husband were hidden by non-Jews in Amsterdam, Netherlands, during most of the Nazi occupation but were discovered by the Gestapo and taken to Auschwitz where her husband died. She was later moved to Kratzau (a.k.a. Chrastava) concentration camp. After liberation, Waterford and her daughter emigrated to the United States. In 1979 she began lecturing to audiences about her experiences during the Holocaust. Waterford presently resides in Chula Vista, California.

Keywords and Subjects

Administrative History

Legal Status
Permanent Collection
Provenance
The badge was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1989 by Helen Waterford.
Funding Note
The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Rights and Restrictions

Conditions on Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions on Use
No restrictions on use

 
Record last modified: 2020-06-30 09:20:03
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn1011