Reunion of Herta Baitch and Stella Bruckenstein Bengel
Herta Baitch and Stella Bruckenstein discuss life in the Jewish community in Vienna in the prewar and wartime period; Stella's memories of Herta's parents and family, and Herta's journey to the United States in 1940.
Some video files begin with 10-60 seconds of color bars.
- Date
-
Production:
2008
- Language
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English
- Extent
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1 DVD.
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Herta Griffel Baitch, in memory of her parents, Wolf Griffel and Beila Bertha Nagel Griffel
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Record last modified: 2023-11-16 08:10:38
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn552684
Also in Herta Griffel Baitch collection
The collection consists of children’s clothing, a suitcase, a doll, a siddur, a pair of earrings, correspondence, documents, a notebook, and a photograph relating to the experiences of Herta Griffel Baitch and her parents in Vienna, Austria, before and during the Holocaust, and of Herta in the United States following her immigration in November 1940.
Date: approximately 1938-2008
Checkered dress with heart patches made for a young Austrian Jewish refugee before her emigration
Object
Girls dress handmade from checkered fabric with decorative heart shaped elements on the front sewn for Herta Griffel by her mother Beila, in Vienna, Austria before Herta’s emigration in 1940. Herta was a young girl living in Vienna, Austria, with her parents, Wolf and Beila Nagel Griffel when Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss on March 13, 1938. German authorities quickly created new legislation that restricted Jewish life. On November 9-10, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, Wolf and Beila’s grocery store was taken from them and Wolf was forced into compulsory labor. Every morning a truck took him and the other men in the neighborhood to a labor camp, and then brought them home at night. The forced labor complicated Wolf’s existing health issues and one day after coming home, he died. After Kristallnacht, Beila arranged for Herta to immigrate to the United States through the German Jewish Children’s Aid Society. On November 23, 1940, Herta left Vienna with eight other children and a chaperone, and arrived in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 23. Herta lived with the Baer family for six months and then was placed with the Friedlander family until adulthood. On September 14, 1942, Herta’s mother, Beila was deported from Vienna to Maly Trostinec concentration camp in Belorussia where she was murdered on September 18.
Nightgown with floral embroidery made for a young Austrian Jewish refugee before emigration
Object
Handmade white nightgown with embroidered flowers sewn for Herta Griffel by her mother Beila, in Vienna, Austria before Herta’s emigration in 1940. Herta was a young girl living in Vienna, Austria, with her parents, Wolf and Beila Nagel Griffel when Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss on March 13, 1938. German authorities quickly created new legislation that restricted Jewish life. On November 9-10, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, Wolf and Beila’s grocery store was taken from them and Wolf was forced into compulsory labor. Every morning a truck took him and the other men in the neighborhood to a labor camp, and then brought them home at night. The forced labor complicated Wolf’s existing health issues and one day after coming home, he died. After Kristallnacht, Beila arranged for Herta to immigrate to the United States through the German Jewish Children’s Aid Society. On November 23, 1940, Herta left Vienna with eight other children and a chaperone, and arrived in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 23. Herta lived with the Baer family for six months and then was placed with the Friedlander family until adulthood. On September 14, 1942, Herta’s mother, Beila was deported from Vienna to Maly Trostinec concentration camp in Belorussia where she was murdered on September 18.
Embroidered nightgown made for a young Austrian Jewish refugee before her emigration
Object
Handmade white nightgown with an embroidered geometric design sewn for Herta Griffel by her mother Beila, in Vienna, Austria before Herta’s emigration in 1940. Herta was a young girl living in Vienna, Austria, with her parents, Wolf and Beila Nagel Griffel when Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss on March 13, 1938. German authorities quickly created new legislation that restricted Jewish life. On November 9-10, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, Wolf and Beila’s grocery store was taken from them and Wolf was forced into compulsory labor. Every morning a truck took him and the other men in the neighborhood to a labor camp, and then brought them home at night. The forced labor complicated Wolf’s existing health issues and one day after coming home, he died. After Kristallnacht, Beila arranged for Herta to immigrate to the United States through the German Jewish Children’s Aid Society. On November 23, 1940, Herta left Vienna with eight other children and a chaperone, and arrived in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 23. Herta lived with the Baer family for six months and then was placed with the Friedlander family until adulthood. On September 14, 1942, Herta’s mother, Beila was deported from Vienna to Maly Trostinec concentration camp in Belorussia where she was murdered on September 18.
Embroidered blouse made for a young Austrian Jewish refugee before her emigration
Object
Handmade white blouse with a kaleidoscopic embroidered design sewn for Herta Griffel by her mother Beila, in Vienna, Austria, before Herta’s emigration in 1940. Herta was a young girl living in Vienna, Austria, with her parents, Wolf and Beila Nagel Griffel when Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss on March 13, 1938. German authorities quickly created new legislation that restricted Jewish life. On November 9-10, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, Wolf and Beila’s grocery store was taken from them and Wolf was forced into compulsory labor. Every morning a truck took him and the other men in the neighborhood to a labor camp, and then brought them home at night. The forced labor complicated Wolf’s existing health issues and one day after coming home, he died. After Kristallnacht, Beila arranged for Herta to immigrate to the United States through the German Jewish Children’s Aid Society. On November 23, 1940, Herta left Vienna with eight other children and a chaperone, and arrived in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 23. Herta lived with the Baer family for six months and then was placed with the Friedlander family until adulthood. On September 14, 1942, Herta’s mother, Beila was deported from Vienna to Maly Trostinec concentration camp in Belorussia where she was murdered on September 18.
Embroidered apron made for a young Austrian Jewish refugee before her emigration
Object
Handmade white embroidered apron with a floral design sewn for Herta Griffel by her mother Beila, in Vienna, Austria before Herta’s emigration in 1940. Herta was a young girl living in Vienna, Austria, with her parents, Wolf and Beila Nagel Griffel when Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss on March 13, 1938. German authorities quickly created new legislation that restricted Jewish life. On November 9-10, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, Wolf and Beila’s grocery store was taken from them and Wolf was forced into compulsory labor. Every morning a truck took him and the other men in the neighborhood to a labor camp, and then brought them home at night. The forced labor complicated Wolf’s existing health issues and one day after coming home, he died. After Kristallnacht, Beila arranged for Herta to immigrate to the United States through the German Jewish Children’s Aid Society. On November 23, 1940, Herta left Vienna with eight other children and a chaperone, and arrived in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 23. Herta lived with the Baer family for six months and then was placed with the Friedlander family until adulthood. On September 14, 1942, Herta’s mother, Beila was deported from Vienna to Maly Trostinec concentration camp in Belorussia where she was murdered on September 18.
Large suitcase with a broken handle used by a young Austrian Jewish refugee during emigration
Object
Large rectangular suitcase used by Herta Griffel when she emigrated from Vienna, Austria to the United States in 1940. Herta was a young girl living in Vienna, Austria, with her parents, Wolf and Beila Nagel Griffel when Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss on March 13, 1938. German authorities quickly created new legislation that restricted Jewish life. On November 9-10, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, Wolf and Beila’s grocery store was taken from them and Wolf was forced into compulsory labor. Every morning a truck took him and the other men in the neighborhood to a labor camp, and then brought them home at night. The forced labor complicated Wolf’s existing health issues and one day after coming home, he died. After Kristallnacht, Beila arranged for Herta to immigrate to the United States through the German Jewish Children’s Aid Society. On November 23, 1940, Herta left Vienna with eight other children and a chaperone, and arrived in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 23. Herta lived with the Baer family for six months and then was placed with the Friedlander family until adulthood. On September 14, 1942, Herta’s mother, Beila was deported from Vienna to Maly Trostinec concentration camp in Belorussia where she was murdered on September 18.
Embroidered dress made for a young Austrian Jewish refugee before her emigration
Object
Girls handmade white dress with a colorful embroidered design sewn for Herta Griffel by her mother Beila, in Vienna, Austria before Herta’s emigration in 1940. Herta was a young girl living in Vienna, Austria, with her parents, Wolf and Beila Nagel Griffel when Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss on March 13, 1938. German authorities quickly created new legislation that restricted Jewish life. On November 9-10, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, Wolf and Beila’s grocery store was taken from them and Wolf was forced into compulsory labor. Every morning a truck took him and the other men in the neighborhood to a labor camp, and then brought them home at night. The forced labor complicated Wolf’s existing health issues and one day after coming home, he died. After Kristallnacht, Beila arranged for Herta to immigrate to the United States through the German Jewish Children’s Aid Society. On November 23, 1940, Herta left Vienna with eight other children and a chaperone, and arrived in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 23. Herta lived with the Baer family for six months and then was placed with the Friedlander family until adulthood. On September 14, 1942, Herta’s mother, Beila was deported from Vienna to Maly Trostinec concentration camp in Belorussia where she was murdered on September 18.
Plastic doll with a burgundy dress brought with a young Austrian Jewish refugee
Object
Plastic doll wearing a handmade burgundy dress brought with Herta Griffel from Vienna, Austria to the United States in 1940. The dress and the undergarment on the doll were handmade by Herta's mother. Herta was a young girl living in Vienna, Austria, with her parents, Wolf and Beila Nagel Griffel when Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss on March 13, 1938. German authorities quickly created new legislation that restricted Jewish life. On November 9-10, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, Wolf and Beila’s grocery store was taken from them and Wolf was forced into compulsory labor. Every morning a truck took him and the other men in the neighborhood to a labor camp, and then brought them home at night. The forced labor complicated Wolf’s existing health issues and one day after coming home, he died. After Kristallnacht, Beila arranged for Herta to immigrate to the United States through the German Jewish Children’s Aid Society. On November 23, 1940, Herta left Vienna with eight other children and a chaperone, and arrived in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 23. Herta lived with the Baer family for six months and then was placed with the Friedlander family until adulthood. On September 14, 1942, Herta’s mother, Beila was deported from Vienna to Maly Trostinec concentration camp in Belorussia where she was murdered on September 18.
Siddur given as a gift to a young Austrian Jewish refugee girl before her emigration
Object
Jewish Siddur given to Herta Griffel by her teacher Gertrud Winter in 1940 before Herta’s emigration from Austria. Herta was a young girl living in Vienna, Austria with her parents, Wolf and Beila Nagel Griffel when Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss on March 13, 1938. German authorities quickly created new legislation that restricted Jewish life. On November 9 -10, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, Wolf and Beila’s grocery store was taken from them and Wolf was forced into compulsory labor. Every morning a truck took him and the other men in the neighborhood to a labor camp, and then brought them home at night. The forced labor complicated Wolf’s existing health issues and one day after coming home, he died. After Kristallnacht, Beila arranged for Herta to immigrate to the United States through the German Jewish Children’s Aid Society. On November 23, 1940 Herta left Vienna with eight other children and a chaperone and arrived in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 23. Herta lived with the Baer family for six months, and then was placed with the Friedlander family until adulthood. On September 14, 1942, Herta’s mother Beila was deported from Vienna to Maly Trostinec concentration camp in Belorussia where she was murdered on September 18. Gertrud was deported from Vienna to Theresienstadt ghetto labor camp in German occupied Czechoslovakia, on September 24, 1942. On October 23, 1944, she was deported to Auschwitz Birkenau killing center in German occupied Poland, where she was murdered upon arrival.
Herta Griffel Baitch papers
Document
The Herta Griffel Baitch papers include Herta Griffel’s German passport and Viennese birth certificate, two letters from her mother to Herta’s social worker (Rose Beser), a notebook containing handwritten Yiddish songs and proverbs Herta’s mother copied for her in German, and a photograph of Herta and her mother before the Holocaust. Later photographs depict Herta with her cousin Adela Dula in London in 1977 and visiting the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde in 2008. The papers also include letters from Adela to Herta and her first foster parents (Clara and Joseph Baer), notes describing the family’s history, and an email from Asa Baitch about the Nagel family from Majdan Sredny.
Pair of earrings entrusted to a young Austrian Jewish refugee after her emigration
Object
A pair of brass earrings later entrusted to Herta Griffel (b. 1933) by her mother years after her emigration from Vienna, Austria to the United States in 1940. Herta was a young girl living in Vienna, Austria, with her parents, Wolf and Beila Nagel Griffel when Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss on March 13, 1938. German authorities quickly created new legislation that restricted Jewish life. On November 9-10, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, Wolf and Beila’s grocery store was taken from them and Wolf was forced into compulsory labor. Every morning a truck took him and the other men in the neighborhood to a labor camp, and then brought them home at night. The forced labor complicated Wolf’s existing health issues and one day after coming home, he died. After Kristallnacht, Beila arranged for Herta to immigrate to the United States through the German Jewish Children’s Aid Society. On November 23, 1940, Herta left Vienna with eight other children and a chaperone, and arrived in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 23. Herta lived with the Baer family for six months and then was placed with the Friedlander family until adulthood. On September 14, 1942, Herta’s mother, Beila was deported from Vienna to Maly Trostinec concentration camp in Belorussia where she was murdered on September 18.
