Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Open back white smock made for newborn Vladimir (Wowa) Brandwajn, after his birth on August 14, 1946, in the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp in Germany. It was made by his mother, Luba, and embroidered on the front with his initials. Vladimir was the first baby born in the DP camp. His parents, Luba and Rachmiel, had married in 1941 in Soviet occupied Poland. During the war, Luba lived in the Soviet Union and Rachmiel fought in the Soviet Army. After the war ended in May 1945, they relocated to Germany.
- Date
-
creation:
1946 August
- Geography
-
creation:
DP-Camp Bergen-Belsen;
Belsen (Bergen, Celle, Germany)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Vladimir Brandwajn
- Contributor
-
Subject:
Vladimir Brandwajn
Subject: Luba Brandwajn
- Biography
-
Vladimir Brandwajn was born on August 14, 1946, in Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp in Germany, to Rachmiel and Luba Goldziuk Brandwajn. Rachmiel was born on January 16, 1913, in Chelm, near Lublin, Poland. Luba was born on September 23, 1910, in Lomza. The couple met as university students in Warsaw around 1939. Following the German invasion of Poland, they relocated to the Soviet controlled eastern sector. The couple decided to marry in 1941 when Rachmiel was drafted into the Soviet Army. After the war ended in 1945, Luba and Rachmiel moved to Hohne, Germany, and then to Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp. Vladimir was the first baby born in the camp. He had one brother, Alexander, born on April 13, 1948, also in the camp. The next year, the family moved to Wroclaw, Poland, and in 1950 to Warsaw. His parents wished to move to the United States, but could not get US entry visas because of Rachmiel’s communist activities. His parents later emigrated to Israel where Rachmiel died in 1990 and Luba in 1998. Vladimir was arrested in 1968 for participating in the political protests against the oppressive communist government of Poland. In 1973, he left for Canada. Vladimir moved to San Francisco in 1982, where he married Claudia Greif.
Luba Goldziuk was born on September 23, 1910, in Lomza, Poland. She attended university in Warsaw where she met Rachmiel Brandwajn. Rachmiel was born on January 16, 1913, in Chelm, near Lublin. He had been a student in France, but had to leave the country because of his communist political activity. In September 1939, Germany invaded and occupied Poland. Luba and Rachmiel relocated to the Soviet controlled eastern sector of the country. In 1941, Rachmiel was drafted into the Soviet Army; the couple married before he was deployed.
Following the war’s end in May 1945, Luba and Rachmiel moved to Hohne, Germany, and then to Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp. Rachmiel learned that all the members of his family had been killed during the war, except for one uncle. The couple had a son, Vladimir, on August 14, 1946. He was the first child born in the camp. Their second son, Alexander, was born there on April 13, 1948. They wished to emigrate to the United States but the US would not issue visas to the family because of Rachmiel’s communist activities. In 1949, the family moved to Wroclaw, Poland, and, the next year, they returned to Warsaw. Rachmiel received a doctorate from Gottingen University in Germany. Rachmiel and Luba later emigrated to Israel. Rachmiel passed away, age 77, in 1990. Luba passed away, age 87, in 1998.
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Clothing and Dress
- Category
-
Children's clothing
- Object Type
-
Smocks (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Soft, white cotton, short sleeved infant’s shirt with a white pull string sewn onto the neckline to tie shut the straight edged open back. A monogram, WB, is embroidered in light blue thread on the right chest. A diagonal seam runs from the lower left side to the center bottom.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 11.375 inches (28.893 cm) | Width: 15.625 inches (39.688 cm)
- Materials
- overall : cloth, thread
- Inscription
- front, left, embroidered, light blue thread : WB
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The infant's shirt was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2010 by Vladimir Brandwajn.
- Funding Note
- The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
- Record last modified:
- 2024-10-03 12:22:47
- This page:
- http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn42145
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Also in Vladimir Brandwajn collection
The collection consists of infant's clothing and a photograph relating to the experiences of Vladimir Brandwajn and his family in Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp where he and his brother were born after the Holocaust.
Date: 1946-1948
Infant’s open back blouse with blue monogram made in DP camp
Object
Open back white smock made for newborn Vladimir (Wowa) Brandwajn, after his birth on August 14, 1946, in the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp in Germany. It was made by his mother, Luba, and embroidered with his initials. Vladimir was the first baby born in the DP camp. His parents, Luba and Rachmiel, had married in 1941 in Soviet occupied Poland. During the war, Luba lived in the Soviet Union and Rachmiel fought in the Soviet Army. After the war ended in May 1945, they relocated to Germany.
Brandwajn family papers
Document
The Brandwajn family papers consists of a photograph of Luba Goldziuk Brandwajn holding her baby son Vladimir with her husband Rachmiel Brandwajn standing beside them at the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp, circa 1946 and Vladimir Brandwajn’s Polish passport, 1968. Rachmiel and Luba Brandwajn married in the Soviet-controlled area of Poland in 1941 before Rachmiel was drafted into the Soviet Army. Also included are two publications written by Rachmiel Brandwajn: "Twarz I Maska Rzecz o “Świętoszku” Moliera" published in 1965 and "Un fragment du Romant comique de Scarron: Proposition de lecture" published in Spring 1981.