Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Pamětní Medaile Řádu Slovenského Národního Povstání [Commemorative Medal of The Order of the Slovak National Uprising] awarded to Paul Strassmann. This revolt erupted in August 1944 as Communists, Slovak nationalists, Army officers, and partisans, including Jewish underground fighters from the labor camps, united to overthrow the pro-Nazi Tiso regime. In October, thousands of German troops arrived and the rebellion was crushed on October 27. Paul and his family, who were from Trencin, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) went into hiding as Christians in late August 1944. His mother and sister Ella were discovered and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany. His father Adolf was captured by the Gestapo and sent to Sachsenhausen. Paul, 15, joined the Jegorov Brigade, a partisan group, in September 1944. He joined the Czech Army in April 1945 and fought in Bratislava until the end of the war in May 1945. He left Czechoslovakia just before the Communists took power and immigrated to the United States in October 1948.
- Date
-
commemoration:
1944 August 29
- Geography
-
issue:
Czechoslovakia
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Paul A. Strassmann
- Markings
- front, embossed : SLOVENSKE NARODNE POVSTANIE / 29 VIII 1944 [Slovak National Uprising]
back, embossed : NA PAMAT ZA UCAST V POVSTANI [Commemorating Participation in the Uprising] - Contributor
-
Subject:
Paul A. Strassmann
- Biography
-
Paul Strassmann was born on January 24, 1929 in Trenčín, Slovakia. His father was an army officer for Austria-Hungary in World War I. He joined the Hashomer Hatzair at a young age. His family went into hiding as Christians in late August 1944. His mother and sister, Ella, were discovered and sent to Ravensbrück. His father, Adolf, was caught by the Gestapo and sent to Sachsenhausen. Strassmann joined the Jegorov Brigade, a partisan group, in September 1944 and then the Czech Army in April 1945. He fought in Bratislava, Slovakia until the end of the war. He left Czechoslovakia just before the Communists took power, living briefly in Paris and London before immigrating to the United States in October 1948. He studied engineering, worked in information system, and served as a government advisor.
Physical Details
- Language
- Slovak
- Classification
-
Military Insignia
- Category
-
Medals
- Object Type
-
Medals, Czech (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Circular bronze medal with an attached grosgrain ribbon. On the front is an embossed image of a woman, head in left profile, attired in a flowing Grecian style gown with cape, grasping a broken sword with Slovakian text embossed around the border. The back has text embossed in the center. At the top is a bail with a metal ring through which is threaded the ribbon, which has 3 vertical stripes of equal width: blue, red, white.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 3.500 inches (8.89 cm) | Width: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm)
- Materials
- overall : bronze, cloth
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Guerillas--Czechoslovakia--Biography. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Czechoslovakia--Personal narratives. Jewish soldiers--Czechoslovakia--Biography. Jews--Persecution--Czechoslovakia--Biography. World War, 1939-1945--Underground movements--Slovakia--Bratislava--Biography.
- Geographic Name
- Slovakia--History--Uprising, 1944--Personal narratives, Slovak.
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The medal was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1989 by Paul A. Strassmann.
- 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:
- 2023-08-31 14:22:06
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn514166
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Also in Paul A. Strassmann collection
The collection consists of documents, certificates, identification cards, photographs, a medal, and a badge relating to Paul Strassmann's involvement with partisans in Slovakia during World War II.
Date: 1944-1984
Czech Partisan medal awarded to a Jewish fighter
Object
Czech partisan medal awardeded to Paul Strassmann. This revolt erupted in August 1944 as Communists, Slovak nationalists, Army officers, and partisans, including Jewish underground fighters from the labor camps, united to overthrow the pro-Nazi Tiso regime. In October, thousands of German troops arrived and the rebellion was crushed on October 27. Paul and his family, who were from Trencin, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) went into hiding as Christians in late August 1944. His mother and sister Ella were discovered and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany. His father Adolf was captured by the Gestapo and sent to Sachsenhausen. Paul, 15, joined the Jegorov Brigade, a partisan group, in September 1944. He joined the Czech Army in April 1945 and fought in Bratislava until the end of the war in May 1945. He left Czechoslovakia just before the Communists took power and immigrated to the United States in October 1948.
Paul A. Strassmann archival collection
Document
The Paul A. Strassmann archival collection consists of biographical materials, photographs, and printed materials documenting Strassmann’s partisan activities during World War II and the persecution, expropriation, and imprisonment of other residents of Trenčín, Slovakia, during the Holocaust. Biographical materials document Gejza Fried, Marek and Moric Grünfeld, Ernest Haas, Rozaliá Krčíková, Paul Strassmann, Jozef and Mária Tiso, Valerie Tausová, and Alica Pfeifferová. Gejza Fried materials include a release from the Žilina concentration camp, a working permit, and a postcard describing conditions at the Nováky concentration camp. Marek Grünfeld materials include his last will and testament and his death certificate. Moric Grünfeld materials include correspondence documenting the liquidation of his hotel business. Ernest (Arnost) Haas materials include receipts for identification papers and property handed over to the government; permissions to work, travel, avoid wearing the yellow star, and avoid deportation; and a requirement to register as a Jew. Rozaliá Krčíková materials include an exemption certificate allowing Krčíková to avoid wearing the yellow star and a work permit. Paul Strassmann materials include identification cards, permissions, and certifications documenting Paul Strassmann’s wartime service as a partisan. Jozef Tiso materials include notice of a special tax against Jewish property, coupons for installment payments, and a letter exempting Tiso from the tax because he was not Jewish. Mária Tisová materials include correspondence from the Central Office for Jews denying Mária Tisová’s requests to delay or be exempted from paying a special tax against Jewish property. This series also includes Valerie Tausová’s declaration of Jewish property and Alica Pfeifferová’s identification booklet. Photographs depict a Jewish labor battalion working on a military installation at Liptonska Hradok in 1940, a train ambush site near Opatová in 1945, and Paul Strassmann in 1945 and 1984. Printed materials include announcements of Holocaust‐era anti‐Jewish measures, Slovak periodicals, a memorial book including reproductions of documents and photographs, and excerpts from a history of armed Jewish resistance to the Holocaust.
