Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Siddur received by 24 year old Bernard Kupferman from Holocaust survivors in Łódź, Poland, on February 17, 1945, after his release from a German prisoner of war camp, Stalag IIIC, on his way to the US military mission in Moscow. Bernard was a sergeant in the 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, United States Army. While crossing the Meuse River in Belgium, Bernard and his battalion were attacked and captured on September 5, 1944. He was wounded and imprisoned in Stalag IIIC in Kustrin, Germany, and liberated by Soviet forces in January 1945. He and a group of fellow prisoners walked from Kustrin to Poland and then to the Ukraine, where a high ranking U.S. Army officer heard about the soldiers. He arranged for them to be taken to a resort. In March/ April, following their recuperation, they were shipped home to the United States.
- Title
- Siddur
- Date
-
received:
1945 February 17
- Geography
-
received:
Łódź (Poland)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Bernard and Sylvia Kupferman
Physical Details
- Language
- Hebrew
- Classification
-
Books and Published Materials
- Category
-
Books and pamphlets
- Object Type
-
Prayer books (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Siddur with black wooden cover and spine. The front of book has an image of a small building with a tree and a road seen through a domed window.
- Materials
- overall : paper, ink
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Judaism--Prayers and devotions. Siddurim--Texts.
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The siddur was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 by Bernard and Sylvia Kupferman.
- Record last modified:
- 2022-07-28 17:50:16
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn34863
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Also in Bernard Kupferman collection
The collection consists of artifacts: a POW tag, a pince-nez, and a ribbon bar, correspondence, documents, and publications relating to the experiences of Bernard Kupferman during and after World War II as a soldier in the United States Army including when he was held as a prisoner of war of Germany.
Date: 1944-1945
Prisoner of war identification tag issued to a Jewish American soldier in Stalag IIIC
Object
Prisoner of war (POW) tag issued to 24 year-old Bernard Kupferman after he was captured and imprisoned by the Germans on September 5, 1944. Bernard was a sergeant in the 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, United States Army. While crossing the Meuse River in Belgium, Bernard and his battalion were attacked and captured. He was wounded and imprisoned in Stalag IIIC in Kustrin, Germany, and liberated by Soviet forces in January 1945. He and a group of fellow prisoners walked from Kustrin to Poland and then to the Ukraine, where a high ranking U.S. Army officer heard about the soldiers. He arranged for them to be taken to a resort. In March/ April, following their recuperation, they were shipped home to the United States.
Military ribbon bar awarded to a Jewish American soldier
Object
Ribbon bar issued to 24 year-old Bernard Kupferman, a sergeant in the 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, United States Army. The ribbons represent the following awards: Purple Heart, American Defense Medal, and European/African/Middle Eastern Campaign Medal. While crossing the Meuse River in Belgium on September 5, 1944, Bernard and his battalion were attacked and captured by the Germans. Bernard was wounded and imprisoned in Stalag IIIC in Kustrin, Germany, and liberated by Soviet forces in January 1945. He and a group of fellow prisoners walked from Kustrin to Poland and then to the Ukraine. When a high ranking U.S. Army officer heard about the soldiers, he arranged for them to be taken to a resort area. In March/April, following their recuperation, they were shipped home to the United States.
Pince-nez with black cord given to a Jewish American soldier by survivors of the Łódź ghetto
Object
Clip-on eyeglasses given to 24 year-old Bernard Kupferman, a Jewish American soldier, by a Polish Jew named Edward, whom he met in Łódź, Poland, on February 17, 1945. Bernard was recently liberated from a German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp and was walking through Poland with a group of fellow former POWs trying to find a way home. They met Edward and a group of Jewish survivors of the Łódź ghetto who gave Bernard a siddur, a Jewish prayer book, that had the names of the group members inscribed in the back. The book also contained a pair of pince-nez glasses that had belonged to a female associate who had been killed by the Germans. The group met regularly to share information and gave the siddur to Bernard because they wanted to be remembered. The Łódź ghetto was destroyed by the Germans in the spring of 1944 and all the inhabitants had been deported to concentration camps. Bernard was a sergeant in the 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division of the United States Army. While crossing the Meuse River in Belgium on September 5, 1944, Bernard and his battalion were attacked and he was wounded and captured by the Germans. He was imprisoned in Stalag IIIC in Kustrin, Germany, and liberated by Soviet forces in January 1945. He and his fellow prisoners walked from Kustrin to Poland, and then to the Ukraine. A high ranking U.S. Army officer heard about the soldiers and arranged for them to be taken to a resort. In March/April, following their recuperation, they were sent home to the United States.
Bernard and Sylvia Kupferman papers
Document
Documents, correspondence, and envelopes documenting Bernard Kupferman's release and journey home from Odessa, USSR.
