Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Brown leather-like pencil case with 3 graphite pencils, 2 fountain pens, 4 colored pencils and 1 eraser received by Erwin Bensdorf in Germany before he emigrated to England in 1939 and used in England.
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Erwin Bensdorf
- Contributor
-
Subject:
Erwin Bensdorf
- Biography
-
Erwin Bensdorf (1928-2009) was born in Mannheim to Johanna (nee Ohnhaus, 1897-1986) and Paul Bensdorf (1891-1968). He was sent on a Kindertransport to the United Kingdom in July 1939. He lived at Barham House in Claydon (near Ipswich), at a boys’ home in High Newcombe run by Protestant priest Mr. Bolton, at a boys’ home on Linton Road in Oxford, and then in private dwellings. He was befriended by Max Haybrook, a school teacher and aid worker for German and Austrian child refugees. Bensdorf immigrated to the United States in January 1945 via Liverpool and Halifax. His parents had escaped from Mannheim to France, were interned at Gurs, escaped to Casablanca, and immigrated to the United States in 1942.
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Containers
- Category
-
Cases
- Object Type
-
Pencil cases (ushmm)
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 3.000 inches (7.62 cm) | Width: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm)
- Materials
- overall : leather, wood, metal, rubber
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The pencil case was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2000 by Erwin Bensdorf.
- Record last modified:
- 2022-07-28 18:29:20
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn520290
Download & Licensing
In-Person Research
- By Appointment
- Request 21 Days in Advance of Visit
- Plan a Research Visit
- Request to See This Object
Contact Us
Also in Erwin Bensdorf collection
Brown leather-like pencil case with 3 graphite pencils, 2 fountain pens, 4 colored pencils and 1 eraser recieved by Erwin Bensdorf in Germany before he emigrated to England in 1939 and used in England. One photogragh album compiled by Max Haybrook, who assisted children from Nazi-occuped Europe through the Kindertransport (4 loose photos inside), 3 photographs (one framed), one document with compilation of notes written in gratitude from KT to Max Haybrook and one typed report compiled by Haybrook concerning events surrounding arrival and care of refugee children in England.
Erwin Bensdorf papers
Document
The Erwin Bensdorf papers consist of manuscripts and photographs documenting German and Austrian child refugees including Bensdorf who escaped to England on Kindertransports and benefited from appeals for aid such as former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin’s and from the assistance and friendship of English people such as Max Haybrook. The manuscripts were written by Max Haybrook and document his work with child refugees supported by the Lord Baldwin Fund. They describe the arrival of the refugee children in England, the conditions of their housing, and their pastimes. One includes handwritten messages of thanks from some of the children. The photographs include a photo album compiled by Max Haybrook and portraits of Max Haybrook, Stanley Baldwin, and Bensdorf’s mother’s family. The photo album includes snapshots documenting Haybrook’s work with Jewish refugee children at St. Felix School, Dovercourt, Westcliff, Barham House, Linton Road in Oxford, and Wallingford. The album includes at least one photograph of Erwin Bensdorf.
