Overview
- Description
- The collection includes a journal, documents, and photographs illustrating the experiences of sisters Esther and Helen (b. 1918) Mermelstein, born in Cinadievo, Czechoslovakia (currently Ukraine) and deported to the Munkacs ghetto in April 1944. In June 1944 they were sent to a series of concentration camps including Auschwitz, munitions factory Christianstadt, a sub-camp of Gross Rosen, in Poland, and Bergen-Belsen in Germany where they were liberated. They were then sent to Karlstad, Sweden to recuperate. The journal is a multi-page letter from Helen to brother Heshkel [Alexander] and the photographs were taken pre-war in Sweden.
- Date
-
inclusive:
1945-1961
undated:
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Judith Weiss
- Collection Creator
- Esther M. Weiss
Physical Details
- Genre/Form
- Diaries. Photographs.
- Extent
-
1 folder
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- The donor, source institution, or a third party has asserted copyright over some or all of the material(s) in this collection. You do not require further permission from the Museum to use this material. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.
- Copyright Holder
- Ms. Judith Weiss
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives.
- Geographic Name
- Ukraine. Poland. Germany. Karlstad (Sweden)
- Personal Name
- Mermelstein, Helen. Mermelstein Weiss, Esther.
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The Helen Mermelstein and Esther Mermelstein Weiss papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Judith Weiss in 2014.
- Funding Note
- The accessibility of this collection was made possible by the generous donors to our crowdfunded Save Their Stories campaign.
- Special Collection
-
Save Their Stories
- Record last modified:
- 2024-04-11 13:19:14
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn108949
Download & Licensing
In-Person Research
- Available for Research
- Plan a Research Visit
-
Request in Shapell Center Reading Room
Bowie, MD
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Also in Helen Mermelstein and Esther Mermelstein Weiss collection
The collection consist of a knife, documents, a journal, and photographs relating to the experiences of Esther and Helen Mermelstein, sisters, before and during the Holocaust when they were deported from Cinadievo, Czechoslovakia, to Munkacs Ghetto, and then to a series of concentration camps until liberated in Bergen Belsen and after the Holocaust in Karlstad, Sweden.
Dinner knife used by sisters who were interned in a series of concentration camps
Object
Table knife used by sisters Esther and Helen Mermelstein as prisoners in a series of concentration camps. Originally from Cinadievo, Czechoslovakia, the sisters were deported in April 1944 to Munkacs Ghetto in German occupied Hungary. In June, they were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, where they were selected as slave labor for the munitions factory Christianstadt, a subcamp of Gross Rosen, and then to Bergen-Belsen in Germany. They were liberated there by the British Army on April 15, 1945 and sent to Karlstad, Sweden, to recuperate.
