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Woman’s white cloth tailored jacket owned by a Jewish refugee during her escape from Vienna

Object | Accession Number: 2004.628.7

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    Woman’s white cloth tailored jacket owned by a Jewish refugee during her escape from Vienna

    Overview

    Brief Narrative
    Jacket owned by Fanny Bieder who was forced to leave Vienna, Austria, with her husband, Isidor, and their two daughters, 14 year old Frieda and 10 year old Gertrude, in 1939. She acquired the jacket for her 1933 cruise to Italy and Palestine with her husband. After the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in March 1938, anti-Jewish laws were passed and Jews were targeted for persecution. Germans raided the family’s apartment, taking most of their valuables, and a little later, Isidor’s business was confiscated. During the November Kristallnacht pogrom, Isidor was arrested and beaten. As a condition of Isidor’s release from prison, he agreed to leave Austria with his family. They received their exit permits on January 16, 1939, and left for Haifa, Palestine. After nearly a year, they sailed from there to Greece, then to the United States, and arrived in New York City on December 18.
    Date
    emigration:  1939
    received:  1933
    Geography
    received: Vienna (Austria)
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Gertrude Bieder Meisner and the Estate of Gertrude Bieder Meisner
    Contributor
    Subject: Fanny Bieder
    Subject: Gertrude Meisner
    Biography
    Fanny (Fiege) Wilde was born on November 2, 1904, in Gorlice, Poland. She had 4 brothers, Bernard, Arnold, Joseph, and Sigmund and two sisters, Lea and Ella, born 1914. Her siblings all resided in Vienna where they attended school. Her brothers were involved in the Zionist movement which encouraged emigration to Palestine; they would be forced to leave Austria after the Anschluss. She married Isidor Bieder, born October 1, 1894, also from Gorlice, on July 6, 1924, in Vienna, Austria. They settled in Vienna where Isidor developed a prosperous retail business. They had two daughters, Frieda, born on September 11, 1925, and Gertrude, born on January 23, 1929.
    Soon after the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany on March 13, 1938, Germans looted the family’s apartment and confiscated their money, car, jewels, and other possessions. Anti-Jewish legislation was enacted and many Jewish owned businesses, including Isidor’s, were confiscated. During the Kristallnacht pogrom that November 10, Isidor was arrested and taken to the police riding school on Kenyongasse where he was severely beaten. Fanny was detained and forced to scrub the streets. The family’s apartment was sealed and they never returned there. As a condition of his release, Isidor had to agree to leave Austria with his family by a specified date.
    On January 15, 1939, Isidor paid the 25 % government tax on his remaining assets that was required of all Jews leaving Austria. He received a permit for the family to leave the country the next day. They left for Italy and on January 20, they sailed on the SS Esperia from Genoa, arriving on January 26 in Haifa, Palestine. They lived in a small room in a resettlement center for Jewish refugees for several weeks and then in various temporary lodgings. Isidor was able to sell land that he had bought during a trip to Haifa with Fanny in 1933. The family left for Piraeus, Greece, on the SS Andreas-Dorus on November 20, 1939. From there, they sailed to New York City aboard the TSS Neas-Hellas and arrived on December 18, 1939. The family settled in Cleveland, Ohio. All of Fanny’s siblings survived the Holocaust. Fanny passed away, age 70, on November 1, 1975.
    Gertrude Bieder was born on January 23, 1929, in Vienna, Austria, to Isidor (Cham Isak) and Fanny (Feiga) Wilde Bieder. Both of her parents were born to Jewish families in Golwice, Poland: Isidor in 1894 and Fanny in 1904. The couple married in Vienna, Austria, on July 6, 1924, where Isidor owned a successful retail business. Gertrude had an older sister, Frieda, who was born on September 11, 1925. When Nazi Germany annexed Austria on March 13, 1938, Germans looted the family’s apartment and took their money, car, and other possessions. Anti-Jewish laws were passed and soon Isidor’s business was confiscated. During Kristallnacht on November 10, Isidor was arrested and severely beaten. Fanny was forced to scrub the streets. The family's apartment was sealed and they never returned there. Isidor was released with the condition that he and his family soon leave Austria.
    The family received a permit to leave Vienna on January 16, 1939, after Isidor paid an expensive Jewish emigration tax. They travelled to Genoa, Italy, where they boarded the SS Esperia, arriving in Haifa, Palestine, on January 26. They lived in a room in a Jewish refugee resettlement center for several weeks; for the remaining months, they moved around the city. On November 20, 1939, the family sailed on the SS Andreas-Dorus for Piraeus, Greece. They transferred to the TSS Neas-Hellas and arrived in New York City on December 18. The family settled in Cleveland, Ohio. Gertrude married David Meisner and had two children. Her father passed away, age 83, in 1971. Her mother died, age 71, in 1975. Gertrude passed away, age 83, on February 26, 2012.

    Physical Details

    Classification
    Clothing and Dress
    Category
    Women's clothing
    Object Type
    Jackets (lcsh)
    Physical Description
    Waist-length, off-white, long-sleeved cloth jacket with a tailored collar and lapels. There are 3 small plastic buttons at the cuffs and 2 large plastic buttons for the front opening. There is a lined slip pocket on the left breast and one on each side at the bottom near the weighted hemline. The interior is fully lined with gold colored satiny cloth.
    Dimensions
    overall: Height: 23.120 inches (58.725 cm) | Width: 14.880 inches (37.795 cm)
    Materials
    overall : cloth, plastic, metal, thread

    Rights & Restrictions

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

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The jacket was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by Gertrude Bieder Meisner, the daughter of Fanny Bieder.
    Record last modified:
    2022-08-31 12:28:50
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn522461

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