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Small Allach porcelain vase found by a US Army nurse in Dachau concentration camp post-liberation

Object | Accession Number: 2007.515.4
2007.515.4 front Small Allach porcelain vase found by a US Army nurse in Dachau concentration camp post-liberation Click to enlarge

Allach porcelain vase found by Irene Halmi at the Dachau concentration camp when she worked there as a nurse following its liberation. Lieutenant Halmi served with the 127th Evacuation Hospital, United States Army, which arrived in Dachau on May 2, 1945, soon after its liberation on April 29 by American troops. She found the vase in the building used to house hospital personnel. The building had previously served as headquarters for the German SS (Schutzstaffel, Protection Squadron) unit at the camp. The Allach porcelain factory was one of the SS's first industrial enterprises, under the direct control of Heinrich Himmler. The factories were sub-camps of Dachau concentration camp, with camp inmates supplying the forced labor.

Date
1945 June  (found)
Geography
found : Dachau (Concentration camp); Dachau (Germany)
Classification
Decorative Arts
Category
Ceramics
Object Type
Vases (lcsh)
Credit Line
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Irene Halmi
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About This Object

Physical Description
White porcelain vase with a conical footed base and a flared opening, scalloped lip, and fluted vertical lines on the body. It has the SS lightening bolt maker’s mark printed on the bottom.
Dimensions
overall : 4.880 x 2.250 x 2.620 in. (12.395 x 5.715 x 6.655 cm.)
Materials
overall : porcelain, glaze
Markings
base underside, stamped around edge : POHRING / 519
base, underside center, SS lightning bolt maker’s mark, black paint : SS
Contributor
Manufacturer: Allach porcelain
Subject: Irene Halmi
Biography
Irene Halmi was born in 1921 in Palmerton, PA, to Lajos and Julia Nemeth Halmi. She had three sisters and three brothers. She graduated from the Palmerton Hospital School of Nursing. During World War II, she was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Nursing Corps in both in the US and in the European Theater. Dachau concentration camp was liberated by the United States Army on April 29, 1945. The 127th Evacuation Hospital, the unit with which Irene served, arrived on May 2, 1945, to assess and to care for the thousands of former inmates of the just liberated camp. The three story building occupied by the hospital personnel was previously the headquarters for the German SS [Schutzstaffel, Protection Squadrons] unit of the camp. A nearby one story building housed the patient care facility. After leaving the military, Irene received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania in 1950. She returned to Palmerton and resumed her career as a nurse. She died, age 91, on August 14, 2012.

Keywords and Subjects

Administrative History

Legal Status
Permanent Collection
Provenance
The Allach vase was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 by Irene Halmi.

Rights and Restrictions

Conditions on Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions on Use
No restrictions on use
 
Record last modified: 2018-01-11 14:24:20
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn42327

Also in Irene Halmi collection

The collection consists of a vase, a document, photographs, and a publication relating to the experiences of Irene Halmi as a nurse in the United States Army hospital in Dachau concentration camp following its liberation on April 29, 1945.

Date: 1945

Framed pass issued to Irene Halmi

Document

One vase, one "Dachau" publication, one framed pass issued to Irene Halmi and four post-war images of Dachau concentration camp with Irene posing in one of them.

View Collection