Cross-stitch table runner from a Jewish woman’s dowry

Chaja Itta Stempler (later Klara Stempler Greif, 1881-1946) was born in Kolomea, Austria-Hungary (now Kolomyya, Ukraine) to Feige Bane (née Wulin) and Juda Hersch Stempler. She had at least four sisters and one brother. In the 1890s the Stempler family immigrated to Romania. One of Klara’s sisters stayed in Kolomea, and on a trip to visit her, Klara met Hersch Peretz Greif (1882-1965). Hersch and Klara married in 1910 and Klara moved back to Kolomea. The couple had two sons, Maximilian (1912-1980) and Ignacy (1920-2012). Shortly after Ignacy was born, the family moved to Roman, Romania to join Klara’s family. The rest of Hersch’s family remained in Kolomea, which at the time was part of Poland following the country realignments at the end of World War I.

On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II. Klara’s sons had both moved to Bucharest by this time, with Ignacy having just enrolled at the Polytechnic Institute to study electro-mechanical engineering. Originally, Romania chose to stay neutral in the war, even though Romanian authorities already pursued a policy of harsh, persecutory antisemitism against Jews. In September 1940, a coalition government came to power led by General Ion Antonescu and the Iron Guard, a nationalistic party which promoted violent antisemitism. Following this change in government, Romania officially joined the Axis alliance, and restrictions against Jews began to intensify. Ignacy was kicked out of school, as Jews were no longer allowed to obtain an education. He became a forced laborer in the German barracks unloading and cleaning war supplies.

In Roman, where Klara and Hersch were still living, Jews were spared from much of the antisemitic violence prevalent throughout the rest of Romania because Jewish leaders were able to influence the local Iron Guard commander through financial support. Nonetheless, many Roman Jews were dismissed from their jobs or had their salary reduced. Some were sent to forced labor either in the surrounding area, or with various Romanian military units that were supporting the German invasion of the Soviet Union. In summer 1941, Jews were ordered to start wearing the yellow Star of David badge, and they were prohibited from moving around town outside of a few designated hours each day. The German army also forced Jews throughout all of Romania to donate blankets and winter clothes to German soldiers.

In August 1944, as Soviet troops were gaining ground in Romania, opposition politicians overthrew Antonescu and signed an armistice with the Soviet Union. Romanian troops then started working with the Allies, fighting alongside Soviet troops through Hungary and into Germany. Klara, her husband, and both of their sons survived the Holocaust, but many of Hersch’s family members in Poland were killed. Following the ousting of the antisemitic Romanian government and the German military, Ignacy reenrolled at the Polytechnic Institute, while Maximilian worked for an import-export company in Bucharest.