Advanced Search

Learn About The Holocaust

Special Collections

My Saved Research

Login

Register

Help

Skip to main content

Enamelled gold cross pendant worn by a Jewish child or his mother in hiding as Catholics

Object | Accession Number: 2002.420.23

Search this record's additional resources, such as finding aids, documents, or transcripts.

No results match this search term.
Check spelling and try again.

results are loading

0 results found for “keyward

    Enamelled gold cross pendant worn by a Jewish child or his mother in hiding as Catholics

    Overview

    Brief Narrative
    Gold cross pendant with remnants of offwhite enamel paint worn by 4 year old Charly Weingarten or his mother Margarethe when they lived in hiding under assumed identities as Catholics in Nice from 1943-1944. Charles was born in 1941 in Italian occupied Nice not long after his mother Margarethe's release from Gurs internment camp. She was a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany who had resided primarily in France since the early 1930s. In 1943, the Germans, who had occupied northern France since May 1940, assumed control of much of southern France. Margarethe went into hiding with Charly under assumed identities as Catholics. They lived in poverty on the grounds of an estate and Charly suffered from chronic bronchitis and severe malnutrition. Nice was liberated by American troops in August 1944. After the war ended in May 1945, Charly was sent to a children's home in Switzerland to recuperate.
    Date
    use:  1943-1944
    Geography
    use: Nice (France)
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Charles Albert Weingarten
    Contributor
    Subject: Charles A. Weingarten
    Biography
    Charles Albert Weingarten was born on January 13, 1941, in Nice, France, to Margarethe Weingarten, an actress, and Rudolf Gelb. Margarethe was born in 1904 in Leipzig, Germany, to a family of Belarusian and Polish furriers. She and her first husband, Karl Albert Foerst, left Germany for South America in the early 1930s, but Margarethe became ill and they moved to Paris, France. On November 7, 1938, Herschel Grynszpan, a Jewish youth walked into the German embassy in Paris and shot Ernst vom Rath, a German diplomat, who died two days. Nazi Party officials claimed it was the act of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy and used it as a pretext for Kristallnacht, the violent anti-Jewish pogrom in Germany on November 9-10. Margarethe and Karl, who were active in left-wing politics, were arrested by the French police and deported to Germany. Karl was shot in Buchenwald on January 20, 1939.

    Margaret was able to return to Paris, accompanied by her mother, Glika Chaya Weingarten. In May 1940, Germany invaded France and Margarethe fled to Nice where she met Rudolf Gelb. Rudolf was a married Austrian Jew who had escaped from Dachau concentration camp in Germany and was in France as a foreign worker. In 1940, not long after Margarethe became pregnant, she was were sent to Gurs internment camp. Her mother was able to bribe someone in the camp and she was soon released. They returned to Nice and settled in the Italian occupied section where Charles was born. In 1943, the Germans occupied southern France. Margarethe hid with Charles in a basement. In July, she obtained false papers for them as Catholics and moved with Charles to the grounds of a villa owned by the Matteudi family. Rudolf escaped to Switzerland. Glika was given a hiding place in the convent of the Sisters of the Poor in Nice. Margarethe made canvas shoes to sell, but she made very little. They often had little to eat and Charles suffered from severe malnutrition and chronic bronchitis. Nice was liberated in late August 1944 and the war ended in May 1945. Charles was sent to recuperate in a Jewish children’s home in Switzerland. Rudolf survived the war in Switzerland and returned to Austria. Margarethe married Karl Ferdinand Delius, a photographer and journalist originally from Berlin. Margarethe, 65, passed away in 1969. Charles immigrated to the United States in the late 1960s, but returned to France in the 1990s.

    Physical Details

    Classification
    Jewelry
    Category
    Necklaces
    Physical Description
    Gold colored, lacquered copper alloy metal pendant in the shape of a Latin cross with flared arms and a raised dot at the center. The arms have shiny raised centers with remnants of offwhite enamel paint and incised line borders. A suspension loop is inserted through a narrow slot at the top. The surface is scratched and the back discolored.
    Dimensions
    overall: Height: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Width: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm)
    Materials
    overall : metal, enamel paint, lacquer

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    No restrictions on access
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The crucifix pendant was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2002 by Charles Weingarten.
    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:
    2023-09-01 09:00:08
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn518131

    Download & Licensing

    In-Person Research

    Contact Us