Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Billfold owned by Josef Zwienicki at the time of his emigration from Germany in 1939. Josef, his wife, and four children lived in Bremen as the Nazis rose to power. It was a predominantly non-Jewish city and there was popular support for increasingly punitive restrictions enacted against the Jewish population. On Kristallnacht in November 9-10, 1938, his wife, Selma, was shot and killed in their home by rioters. Josef appealed for help from relatives abroad. A cousin in Canada arranged for Josef and his four children, Avraham, Gerd (Jacob), Benno, and Liesel, to come to Canada as refugees. They left Germany by ship on May 31, 1939.
- Date
-
emigration:
1939 May 31
- Geography
-
acquired:
Bremen (Germany)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Jacob G. Wiener
- Markings
- inside left pocket, lower center, stamped in gold : Gebrüder Sie [Sie Brothers (a company name)]
- Contributor
-
Subject:
Josef Zwienicki
Subject: Jacob G. Wiener Ph.D.
- Biography
-
Josef Zwienicki was born February 15, 1892, in Zlatopol, Russia (now in Ukraine). His parents were Avraham and Neche Kuczak. Josef had a twin sister and six brothers. Their father, who was in the lumber business, was killed in a pogrom in Odessa. Josef left Russia in 1913 to avoid the military draft. He worked as a mechanic in different cities, until in 1916, in Hamburg, Germany, he married Sarah Selma Stiefel. She was born on June 9, 1882, to a German Jewish family who long established ties ot that city. They moved to Bremen and had four children: Avraham Alfred (b. September 19, 1925), Benno (b. October 5, 1918), Koppel Gerd (b. March 25, 1917), and Liesel (b. February 2, 1921). Josef owned a bicycle and motorcar sales and repair shop; his wife had been a kindergarten teacher and bookkeeper before their marriage, and now she assisted him in his business.
The Zweinickis lived in a predominantly non-Jewish neighborhood. As early as 1928, Nazi activists in Bremen harassed Jewish residents. When the Nazis came to national power in 1933, some of their neighbors tried to reassure the Zwienickis that this was a temporary phase, and that they did not support the Nazi ideology. Even those who joined the Nazi party appeared to the Zweinickis to be doing so as a result of intimidation. Local Nazi officials created obstacles to Josef’s business. By 1934, his wife, Selma, was writing to relatives in other countries, such as in South America, trying to find a way to emigrate from Germany.
On Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938, Josef left his home and went not hiding, since the rioters appeared to be targeting mainly Jewish men. In his absence, rioters raided the home and shot and killed Selma. Though a neighbor was able to name the murderers, the Nazi-run police took no action. Josef renewed the effort to contact relatives outside Germany. A cousin in Canada arranged for papers that would allow Josef and his children to come to Canada as refugees. The Germans allowed them to sell their house for only enough money to buy tickets for the voyage to Canada. They left Germany on May 31, 1939.
Jacob Wiener (1917-2011) was born Koppel Gerd Zwienicki in Bremen, Germany, and was known as Gerd. His parents were Josef, born on February 15, 1892, in Zlatopol, Russia, and Sarah Selma Stiefel, born on June 9, 1882, in Hamburg, Germany. He was the oldest of four children: Avraham Alfred (b. September 19, 1925), Benno (b. October 5, 1918), and Liesel (b. February 2, 1921). His father owned a bicycle and motorcar sales and repair shop; his mother was a kindergarten teacher and a bookkeeper before her marriage, after which she helped with the family business. When he was sixteen, Jacob created a chapter of Agudath Israel, a religiously orthodox alternative to leftist Zionist organizations, such as Hashomer Hatzair, to which he previously belonged.
The Zwienickis lived in a predominantly non-Jewish neighborhood, and the children attended public schools. Jacob was the only Jew in a school of over 700 boys. As early as 1928, Nazi activists in Bremen harassed Jews and made Jacob’s parents worried about their future in Germany. When the Nazis came to national power in 1933, some of their neighbors tried to reassure the Zwienickis that this was a temporary phase, and that they did not support the Nazi ideology. Even those who joined the Nazi party appeared to the Zweinickis to be doing so as a result of intimidation. Local Nazi officials created obstacles to the family business, and instituted restrictions in the schools for Jewish students. The children Jacob had previously played with were enlisted in the Hitler Youth. They were encouraged to report to the authorities about their parents’ activities, such as associating with Jews, creating further barriers between the Zweinickis and their neighbors. Most of the teacher’s in Jacob’s school supported the Nazi ideology and racial science courses, explaining the superiority of the Aryan race, and the inferiority of Jews, were made part of the curriculum. By 1934, Jacob’s mother was writing to relatives in other countries, such as in South America, trying to find a way to emigrate from Germany.
In 1936, Jacob went to Frankfurt am Main for a year to begin rabbinical studies and serve in Hachshara, a Zionist movement that prepared Jews for the rigors of immigration to the Holy Land. In 1937, he entered the Jewish Teachers Seminary in Wurzburg. He was in the dormitory there on Kristallnacht in November 9-10, 1938, when rioters damaged the building. In the morning, the students were taken through a jeering crowd to the police station. They were kept in prison for eight days and then sent to their home towns. Upon returning to Bremen, Jacob learned that his mother had been shot and killed on Kristallnacht by men who had raided their apartment. His father had not been home, but had been in hiding, since rioters had mainly been targeting Jewish men. Though a neighbor was able to name the murderers, the Nazi-run police took no action. Also on Kristallnacht, Jacob's brother Benno was arrested and sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He was among a few young people released six weeks later.
After Kristallnacht, the Gestapo kept close control over the Jews of Bremen. Jacob became one of the members of the community who reported to the local Gestapo office several times a week and negotiated with the authorities on such matters as permission to run a school for Jewish children, who had been barred from other schools. The school was granted official status, with Jacob as the principal, and it remained in operation until the middle of 1942, when the remaining Jewish population was deported to concentration camps. The school was allowed to operate until 1941. In January, 1939, Jacob and other members of Agudath Israel had an opportunity to get some Jews released from a concentration camp and sent out of the country. They forged letters that said the bearer was expected for Hachshara service in the Baltic states. Approximately 200 Jewish youth were allowed to leave Germany through this effort, though their fate once Germany invaded those countries was not known.
Jacob’s father renewed the effort to contact relatives outside Germany. A cousin in Canada was able to arrange the affidavits and landing cards that would allow Jacob’s family to come to Canada as refugees. The Germans allowed them to sell their house for only enough money to buy tickets for the voyage to Canada. Jacob, his father, and his three siblings left Germany on May 31, 1939. Jacob then went to Baltimore, Maryland, to pursue rabbinical studies. He settled in the United States and became a rabbi and social worker. He changed his name to Jacob G. Wiener. In 1948, he married Trudel Farntrog, who had been born September 6, 1921, in Fuerth, Germany, and whom he had known at the teacher’s seminary in Wurzburg. She had survived the Holocaust by being sent on a Kindertransport to England. Jacob and Trudel had three children. They were married for 53 years until Trudel’s death, age 81 on January 15, 2002. Jacob died, age 93, on February 15, 2011.
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Dress Accessories
- Category
-
Carried dress accessories
- Object Type
-
Billfolds (aat)
- Physical Description
- Rectangular, brown leather wallet that folds in the middle. It has two pockets: the right curves towards the outside edge and the left is straight from the edges. German text is stamped in the lower center of the interior left pocket. On the outside are two dotted lines that were created by a sewing machine; there is no thread in the holes.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 8.120 inches (20.625 cm) | Width: 10.120 inches (25.705 cm)
- Materials
- overall : leather, thread, paint
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 billfold was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 by Rabbi Jacob Wiener, the son of Josef and Sarah Zwienicki.
- Record last modified:
- 2024-10-03 11:46:20
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn519075
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Also in Jacob G. Wiener collection
The collection consists of artifacts, a book, documents, and photographs relating to the experiences of Jacob Wiener and his family, the Zwienickis, in Germany before World War II and in Canada and the United States before, during, and after the war. Some of these materials may be combined into a single collection in the future.
Date: 1920-1939
Jacob Wiener papers
Document
Consists of a blank business form and envelope from the business of Josef Swinizki.
Wiener family photographs
Document
Consists of 23 pre-war and wartime photographs of members of the family of Rabbi Jacob Wiener [Gerd Zwienicki] in Germany. Included are class photographs of the yeshiva of Rabbi Breuer in Frankfurt in the 1930s.
Gerd Zwienicki papers
Document
The papers relate to Gerd Zwienicki [donor], his father, Josef Zwienicki, and his life in Germany before the Holocaust. Included in the collection are documents, correspondence, term papers, notebooks and a speech relating to a Jewish school in Bremen, Germany, where Gerd Zwienicki was the principal and director.
Zwienicki family papers
Document
The papers consist of letters received by the Zwienicki family [donor's family] in Nazi Germany and following the Holocaust.
Rabbi Jacob G. Wiener papers
Document
Collection consists of documents, photographs, a wallet, and photocopies of documents pertaining to donor and family during and after the war.
Rabbi Jacob G. Wiener papers
Document
Collection of photographs, documents and modern color photographs that relate to the donor's experiences during the Holocaust.
Book
Object
Book: titled, "Jahrbuch fur Die Judischen Gemeinden- Nr. 6, 5695, 1934/1935." Cover damaged and taped together
Rabbi Jacob G. Wiener papers
Document
Collection of documents including war ration books and identification papers issued to Gerd Zwienicki (previous name of Rabbi Jacob G. Wiener) by the United States Government after his arrival in the United States after his escape from Nazi occupied Europe.
Rabbi Jacob G. Wiener papers
Document
Consists of pre and post-war documents, pamphlets, correspondence, and photographs of Jacob Wiener (born Gerd Zwienicki) and his family's experiences from 1936-1948. Included in this collection is his copy of a 1942 pamphlet on "Questions and Answers on Regulations Concerning Aliens of Enemy Nationalities" from the U.S. Department of Justice; Josef Zwienicki's (Jacob's father) 1916 driver's license; a 1948 marriage certificate issued to Gerd Zwienicki and Gertrud Farntrog (Jacob's wife); correspondence from Selma Stiefel Zwienicki (Jacob's mother), dated 1937-1938; correspondence from Jacob to the National Society for the Establishment of Torah Schools, dated 1946-1950; and a book review by Jacob on the "Hagenbach" protocol. The photographs include a portrait picture of Gerd (June 1940); a portrait picture of Martin Farntrog (undated); two photographs of Gerd and Gertrud's wedding in New York City (May 9,1948); two photographs of the Rabbinical College in Baltimore, Maryland (1940-1941); and a photograph of an unknown building (1942).