Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Handmade carved wooden box used in the Jewish ghetto in Łódź, Poland. It has the year 1932 etched in the lid with a later addition of the year 1940 and the name Estera Tannenbaum Hersz. Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and one week later occupied Łódź. They renamed it Litzmannstadt and in February 1940 relocated all the Jews, roughly 100,000 people, into a sealed ghetto. Prewar Łódź was a thriving industrial city and the ghetto continued to be an important manufacturing center. Daily life and social and economic activity in the ghetto was handled by a Council of Jewish Elders who reported to the German authorities. There were continual food shortages and death from starvation was common. By September 1942, the Germans had deported the majority of the residents to Chelmno killing center. The ghetto was destroyed in May 1944.
- Date
-
creation:
1932
use: 1932-1944
- Geography
-
creation:
Litzmannstadt-Getto (Łódź, Poland);
Łódź (Poland)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Rafal Imbro
Physical Details
- Language
- German
- Classification
-
Containers
- Category
-
Boxes
- Object Type
-
Ornamental boxes (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Rectangular, stained, varnished, brown wooden box with carved reliefs, rounded corners and a hinged lid. On the lid exterior is a carved relief of a male lion in flying gallop under a tree with a leafy horizontal bough on a patterned, textured background. In the upper right are etched dates and a letter; the more recent date, 1940, is scratched and appears to be a later addition. There are etched dates and German text in the same style along the lid front and side edges. The sides of the lid extend downward and are carved with 2 interlocked rows of alternating rectangles that form decorative top borders for the side and front base carvings. Each base panel also has a vertical column of circles within a rectangle on each side. The front base panel has a carved relief of a man aiming a rifle over a dog chasing a stag. The right and left side carvings have a circle flanked by scrollwork. The back base panel carving has 2 large flowers with horizontal leafy stems. There is a rectangular cut out in the top base interior where a locking mechanism used to be. The exterior edge has 2 small holes on each end of the rim carving where a closing pin would have been inserted. Each corner of the box has a carved, nearly 3-dimensional column. The base and lid interior have penciled text, numbers, and numerical equations. The underside is unfinished plywood with missing sections. There are some chips, gouges, and scratches and wax and dirt residue.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 3.750 inches (9.525 cm) | Width: 10.500 inches (26.67 cm) | Depth: 6.125 inches (15.557 cm)
- Materials
- overall : wood, metal, varnish stain, graphite
- Inscription
- lid exterior, border, carved : Getto L-stadt 1940 / ESTERA TANENBAUM HERSZ / Getto L-stadt 1940
lid, top exterior, carved : 1932 / 19 R 40
interior, pencil : Rolmiera '39
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 box was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by Rafal Imbro.
- 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:
- 2024-08-16 14:05:55
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn522466
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Also in Rafal Imbro collection
The collection consists of three boxes, a wallet, documents, identification cards, and receipt books relating to the experiences of Jewish people living in Łódź and Kielce, Poland, before and during the Holocaust. Some of these materials may be combined into a single collection in the future.
Date: 1923-1943
Handcrafted wooden box with inlaid text and a mirror made in the Łódź Ghetto
Object
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Brown leather wallet with inlaid floral decorations handcrafted and used in the Łódź Ghetto
Object
Hand decorated wallet crafted and used in the Jewish ghetto in Łódź, Poland. Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and one week later occupied Łódź. They renamed it Litzmannstadt and in February 1940 relocated all the Jews, roughly 100,000 people, into a sealed ghetto. Prewar Łódź was a thriving industrial city and the ghetto continued to be an important manufacturing center. Daily life and social and economic activity in the ghetto was handled by a Council of Jewish Elders who reported to the German authorities. There were continual food shortages and, with the severe overcrowding, death from starvation and disease was common. By September 1942, the Germans had deported the majority of the residents to Chelmno killing center. The ghetto was destroyed in May 1944.
Kielce Ghetto Jewish Welfare Committee photograph album
Document
Consists of one photograph album with cloth covers and paper jacket with embossed design in blue and white. Contains 47 black and white photographs and 4 loose inserts. The pages are decorated with hand painted graphics. Inscription on first page, "Z.K.O.M., W. Kielcach" and the second page,"1 styczen 1942." Photograph album prepared by the employees of the Jewish Council in the Kielce ghetto for the Chairman of the Judenrat, Mr. Hermann Levi. The album is titled: Z.K.O.M (Zydowski Komitet Opiekunczy Miejski) Jewish Welfare Committee in Kielce and is dated 1 January 1942. It includes photographs documenting the Welfare Committee activities and three ID cards indicating statistics relating to its activities.
Rafal Imbro papers
Document
The papers consist of documents, identification cards, and receipt books relating to the experiences of Jews in Łódź and Kielce, Poland, before and during World War II.
Inscribed metal tzedakah box used to collect money for charity in Łódź
Object
Handmade engraved metal box used in Łódź, Poland, to collect funds for charity. The address, 20 Wolborska, engraved on the box, is the location of the main synagogue in Łódź which was set on fire in November 1939 by the German forces who occupied the city that September. A tzedakah box is used by Jewish communities as a physical reminder to be charitable and help others. The message on this box asks contributors to show support by ushering in a new Torah. On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland and, one week later, occupied Łódź. They renamed it Litzmannstadt and in February 1940 relocated all the Jews, roughly 100,000 people, into a sealed ghetto. Prewar Łódź was a thriving industrial city and the ghetto continued to be an important manufacturing center. Daily life and social and economic activity in the ghetto was handled by a Council of Jewish Elders who reported to the German authorities. There were continual food shortages and death from starvation was common. By September 1942, the Germans has deported the majority of the residents to Chelmno killing center. The ghetto was destroyed in May 1944.
