Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Identification tag issued to 14 year old Emil Fekete, later Black, in Ebensee concentration camp, Austria. Emil, a Hungarian Jew, was imprisoned there in January 1945, after several months in Auschwitz and Wolfsberg concentration camps. While at Ebensee, he was a slave laborer for Siemens AG, constructing tunnels for underground factories. He was liberated by American troops on May 6, 1945.
- Date
-
use:
1945 January-1945 May
- Geography
-
use:
Ebensee (Concentration camp);
Ebensee (Austria)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Howard Black, Dr. Michael D. Black, and Lisa C. Lubinsky
- Contributor
-
Subject:
Emil Black
- Biography
-
Emil Fekete, later Black, was born in Hungary, on October 1, 1930, to Herman Fekete and Cecelia Klein. From April 20 to May 20, 1944, Emil was imprisoned in Auschwitz concentration camp, then sent to Wolfsberg concentration camp, in Austria, where he stayed until January 15, 1945, as prisoner number 43577. He was transferred to Ebensee concentration camp, also in Austria, where he was assigned as forced labor for Siemens AG. He stayed at the blacksmith’s house, where he sometimes had food and ate snow. Emil worked for the “union” at the Steinbach Tunneltau, on a mountainside near Ebensee, from January 1945 to May 1945, as prisoner number 136616. He worked in building tunnels for future underground factories by loading stones into small railway cars. His supervisor was Herr Huntz and the Kapos were Nicholai Bowkowski and Herr Mikita. The Lager #10 boss was Herr Magnus. Emil was liberated by American troops on May 5, 1945. He lived in Bodrogkeresztur, Hungary, before he emigrated to Halifax, Canada, on December 20, 1948, aboard the ship Scythia. He moved to Montreal, Canada, where he met his wife and worked in the candy business. They had three children. Emil died in 2005, age 75.
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Identifying Artifacts
- Category
-
Labels
- Object Type
-
Name tags (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Silver-colored, metal, rectangular, identification tag with cut off, angled corners. There is a hole at each end where it was attached to a bracelet. The number, 136616, is stamped into the metal.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 0.625 inches (1.588 cm) | Width: 2.375 inches (6.032 cm)
- Materials
- overall : metal
- Inscription
- front center, stamped : 136616
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Child concentration camp inmates--Austria--Biography. Concentration camp inmates--Austria--Biography. Slave labor--Austria--Ebensee--Biography. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Hungary--Personal narratives. Jewish children in the Holocaust--Biography. World War, 1939-1945--Conscript labor--Austria.
- Corporate Name
- Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The identification tag was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2006 by Howard Black, Dr. Michael D. Black, and Lisa C. Lubinsky, the children of Emil Black.
- Record last modified:
- 2024-10-03 13:01:54
- This page:
- http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn518718
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Also in Emil Black collection
The collection consists of an identification tag and documents relating to the experience of Emil Black in several concentration camps during the Holocaust and his immigration and claims history in the postwar era.
Date: 1945-approximately 1948
The Black family papers
Document
Collection consists of documents related to Emil Fekete (donors father, later Black) including a post card, immigration identification card, meal ticket, letter regarding restitution claims, a completed questionnaire and relating to his journey to Canada in December 1948.