Overview
- Brief Narrative
- World War I Iron Cross medal awarded to Alfred Levy for his service in the German Army during the First World War (1914-1918). The medal was issued to him in Nazi Germany in 1936. Alfred, a judge, his wife Marie, and their children Marie-Louise and Theo moved from the Saar region when it voted to reunify with Germany in 1935. They resettled in Luxembourg which was occupied by Germany in May 1940. Restrictions were placed on the Jewish population to segregate them from other citizens and Marie-Louise, 15, had to leave school. In December 1940, the family was deported to Vichy France, and escaped the internment camps to live in Villefranche-de-Rouergue. In November 1942, after Germany occupied Vichy, a neighbor informed upon the Levy family. In 1943, Alfred was notified by the French resistance that he was in danger of arrest. He went into hiding, and was arrested while visiting his family, and then released with the help of a French police office. The entire family went into hiding until the region was liberated in fall 1944. In 1946, they returned to Saar.
- Date
-
commemoration:
1914-1918
issue: 1936
- Geography
-
issue:
Germany
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Marlyse Levy Kennedy
- Markings
- a. obverse, top, embossed : FW
a. obverse, bottom, embossed : 1813
a. reverse, center, embossed : W
a. reverse, bottom, embossed : 1914
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Awards
- Category
-
Medals
- Object Type
-
Medals, German (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Blackened iron medal in the form of a cross pattee with concave arms with a silver colored, reeded line border. The front has an embossed vertical design: at the top of the central arm is a crown, then the letters FW, a sprig of 3 oak leaves and 2 acorns, and, at the bottom, the date 1813. On the reverse descending from the top of the central arm is a crown, in the center a W, and, at the bottom, the date 1914. A bail with suspension ring is attached at the top.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 2.310 inches (5.867 cm) | Width: 1.750 inches (4.445 cm)
- Materials
- a : metal
b : ribbon
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Luxembourg--Personal narratives. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--France--Personal narratives. Jewish refugees--France--Biography. Jews--Persecutions--France--Biography. World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--France--Personal narratives, Jewish. World War, 1914-1918--Military personnel--German--Personal narratives. World War, 1914-1918--Participation, Jewish.
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The medal was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015 by Marlyse Levy Kennedy, the daughter of Alfred and Meta Mayer Levy.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-09-20 14:23:17
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn531114
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Also in Alfred and Meta Mayer Levy family collection
The collections consists of medals, documents, and photographs relating to the experiences Alfred Levy and Meta Mayer Levy and their children Marie-Louis and Theo Levy, and their extended family before the Holocaust in Germany. [Accretion: pair of silver candlesticks given to Alfred Levy by the Jewish Community of Saarbrucken after the war as a gift for his tenure as president; Shabbat lamp; Framed family portrait of Siesel family, Framed portrait of Alfred Levy; Framed drawing of Simon Levy; Film reel (to go to Film & Video); photo album of Marcel, a member of the resistance who was executed by Nazis; modern day publications of resistance, DVDs and videos ((to go to Library)]
Levy family papers
Document
The collection documents the Holocaust experiences of the Levy family of Saarlouis (present day Saarlouis, Germany). Included are identification papers; birth, marriage, and death certificates; immigration and travel documents; and family books that document the movements and lives of Alfred, his wife Meta (née Mayer), and their children Marlyse and Theo as they encountered increasing Nazi persecution in the pre-war and wartime years in the French cities of Saarlouis, Saarbrücken, Thionville, Villefranche-de-Rouergue, as well as Luxembourg. Also included are photographs depicting Alfred Levy as a soldier in World War I and a Supreme Court justice in Saarlouis and Saarbrücken; the Levy family in Luxembourg and Villefranche-de-Rouergue; the Mayer family; the inauguration of a new synagogue in Saarbrücken; and the World Jewish Congress meeting in Montreux, Switzerland.
World War I medal awarded to a Jewish German veteran
Object
World War I medal awarded to Alfred Levy for his service in the German Army during the First World War (1914-1918). Alfred, a judge, his wife Marie, and their children Marie-Louise and Theo moved from the Saar region when it voted to reunify with Germany in 1935. They resettled in Luxembourg which was occupied by Germany in May 1940. Restrictions were placed on the Jewish population to segregate them from other citizens and Marie-Louise, 15, had to leave school. In December 1940, the family was deported to Vichy France, and escaped the internment camps to live in Villefranche-de-Rouergue. In November 1942, after Germany occupied Vichy, a neighbor informed upon the Levy family. In 1943, Alfred was notified by the French resistance that he was in danger of arrest. He went into hiding, and was arrested while visiting his family, and then released with the help of a French police office. The entire family went into hiding until the region was liberated in fall 1944. In 1946, they returned to Saar.
World War I medal awarded to a Jewish German veteran
Object
World War I medal awarded to Alfred Levy for his service in the German Army during the First World War (1914-1918). Alfred, a judge, his wife Marie, and their children Marie-Louise and Theo moved from the Saar region when it voted to reunify with Germany in 1935. They resettled in Luxembourg which was occupied by Germany in May 1940. Restrictions were placed on the Jewish population to segregate them from other citizens and Marie-Louise, 15, had to leave school. In December 1940, the family was deported to Vichy France, and escaped the internment camps to live in Villefranche-de-Rouergue. In November 1942, after Germany occupied Vichy, a neighbor informed upon the Levy family. In 1943, Alfred was notified by the French resistance that he was in danger of arrest. He went into hiding, and was arrested while visiting his family, and then released with the help of a French police office. The entire family went into hiding until the region was liberated in fall 1944. In 1946, they returned to Saar.
World War I medal awarded to a Jewish German veteran
Object
World War I medal awarded to Alfred Levy for his service in the German Army during the First World War (1914-1918). Alfred, a judge, his wife Marie, and their children Marie-Louise and Theo moved from the Saar region when it voted to reunify with Germany in 1935. They resettled in Luxembourg which was occupied by Germany in May 1940. Restrictions were placed on the Jewish population to segregate them from other citizens and Marie-Louise, 15, had to leave school. In December 1940, the family was deported to Vichy France, and escaped the internment camps to live in Villefranche-de-Rouergue. In November 1942, after Germany occupied Vichy, a neighbor informed upon the Levy family. In 1943, Alfred was notified by the French resistance that he was in danger of arrest. He went into hiding, and was arrested while visiting his family, and then released with the help of a French police office. The entire family went into hiding until the region was liberated in fall 1944. In 1946, they returned to Saar.
World War I dog tags worn by a Jewish soldier
Object
World War I dog tags issued to Alfred Levy for his service in the German Army during the First World War (1914-1918). Alfred, a judge, his wife Marie, and their children Marie-Louise and Theo moved from the Saar region when it voted to reunify with Germany in 1935. They resettled in Luxembourg which was occupied by Germany in May 1940. Restrictions were placed on the Jewish population to segregate them from other citizens and Marie-Louise, 15, had to leave school. In December 1940, the family was deported to Vichy France, and escaped the internment camps to live in Villefranche-de-Rouergue. In November 1942, after Germany occupied Vichy, a neighbor informed upon the Levy family. In 1943, Alfred was notified by the French resistance that he was in danger of arrest. He went into hiding, and was arrested while visiting his family, and then released with the help of a French police office. The entire family went into hiding until the region was liberated in fall 1944. In 1946, they returned to Saar.
World War I blue and white ribbon awarded to a Jewish German veteran
Object
World War I ribbon awarded to Alfred Levy for his service in the German Army during the First World War (1914-1918). Alfred, a judge, his wife Marie, and their children Marie-Louise and Theo moved from the Saar region when it voted to reunify with Germany in 1935. They resettled in Luxembourg which was occupied by Germany in May 1940. Restrictions were placed on the Jewish population to segregate them from other citizens and Marie-Louise, 15, had to leave school. In December 1940, the family was deported to Vichy France, and escaped the internment camps to live in Villefranche-de-Rouergue. In November 1942, after Germany occupied Vichy, a neighbor informed upon the Levy family. In 1943, Alfred was notified by the French resistance that he was in danger of arrest. He went into hiding, and was arrested while visiting his family, and then released with the help of a French police office. The entire family went into hiding until the region was liberated in fall 1944. In 1946, they returned to Saar.
Piece of black, white and red striped ribbon awarded to a Jewish German veteran
Object
World War I medal awarded to Alfred Levy for his service in the German Army during the First World War (1914-1918). Alfred, a judge, his wife Marie, and their children Marie-Louise and Theo moved from the Saar region when it voted to reunify with Germany in 1935. They resettled in Luxembourg which was occupied by Germany in May 1940. Restrictions were placed on the Jewish population to segregate them from other citizens and Marie-Louise, 15, had to leave school. In December 1940, the family was deported to Vichy France, and escaped the internment camps to live in Villefranche-de-Rouergue. In November 1942, after Germany occupied Vichy, a neighbor informed upon the Levy family. In 1943, Alfred was notified by the French resistance that he was in danger of arrest. He went into hiding, and was arrested while visiting his family, and then released with the help of a French police office. The entire family went into hiding until the region was liberated in fall 1944. In 1946, they returned to Saar.
Candlesticks
Object
Pair of silver candlesticks given to Alfred Levy by the Jewish Community of Saarbrucken after the war as a gift for his tenure as president.
Lamp
Object
Drawing
Object
563795
Object
