White, monogrammed linen tablecloth belonging to the family of a German Rabbi
- Date
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use:
before 1959
- Geography
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use:
Europe
- Classification
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Furnishings and Furniture
- Category
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Household linens
- Object Type
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Tablecloths (lcsh)
- Genre/Form
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Tablecloths.
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Elizabeth Irene Newhouse
Finely woven linen tablecloth, embroidered with the initials of Martha Wilde, wife of Rabbi Georg Wilde, who fled Germany in 1939. Rabbi Dr. Georg Wilde attended the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), and received a doctorate in 1901. He married Breslau-born Martha Spitz, and the couple moved to Magdeburg. In 1906, Georg began serving as rabbi for the largest of Magdeburg’s three congregations, the Synagogen-Gemeinde zu Magdeburg. During World War I, Georg served as a field rabbi and presided over both Jewish and interfaith burials. While in Magdeburg, Georg functioned as an integral leader of the Jewish community, and belonged to a number of Jewish organizations and welfare associations. The morning following Kristallnacht in November 1938, Georg was arrested and learned that his synagogue had been targeted for destruction. Holy texts were burned, valuables looted, and explosives ignited inside. He was soon imprisoned in Buchenwald concentration camp. While on the train to Buchenwald, Georg threw postcards addressed to his wife out the window at multiple stops, one of which made it back to her. After eleven days of harsh treatment, lack of nourishment, and poor sanitary conditions, Georg was released on the condition that he would prepare to emigrate from Germany. During Georg’s imprisonment, Martha contacted the Chief Rabbi in London, who aided their passage to England in March 1939. The couple lived in Middlesex county and Cambridge, and became active in their new Jewish community.
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Record last modified: 2020-06-30 09:21:23
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn619189
Also in Rabbi Georg and Martha Wilde collection
The collection consists of a monogramed tablecloth and napkin rings relating to the experiences of Rabbi Dr. Georg Wilde and his wife Martha in Germany, before and during the Holocaust.
Monogrammed silver napkin rings owned by a German Rabbi
Object
Pair of silver napkin rings, engraved with the initials of Martha and her husband Rabbi George Wilde, who fled Germany in 1939. Rabbi Dr. Georg Wilde attended the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), and received a doctorate in 1901. He married Breslau-born Martha Spitz, and the couple moved to Magdeburg. In 1906, Georg began serving as rabbi for the largest of Magdeburg’s three congregations, the Synagogen-Gemeinde zu Magdeburg. During World War I, Georg served as a field rabbi and presided over both Jewish and interfaith burials. While in Magdeburg, Georg functioned as an integral leader of the Jewish community, and belonged to a number of Jewish organizations and welfare associations. The morning following Kristallnacht in November 1938, Georg was arrested and learned that his synagogue had been targeted for destruction. Holy texts were burned, valuables looted, and explosives ignited inside. He was soon imprisoned in Buchenwald concentration camp. While on the train to Buchenwald, Georg threw postcards addressed to his wife out the window at multiple stops, one of which made it back to her. After eleven days of harsh treatment, lack of nourishment, and poor sanitary conditions, Georg was released on the condition that he would prepare to emigrate from Germany. During Georg’s imprisonment, Martha contacted the Chief Rabbi in London, who aided their passage to England in March 1939. The couple lived in Middlesex county and Cambridge, and became active in their new Jewish community.