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Portable marble Hanukkah menorah with 4 sections made for a rabbi

Object | Accession Number: 1992.8.22 a-d

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    Portable marble Hanukkah menorah with 4 sections made for a rabbi
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    Overview

    Brief Narrative
    Traveling Hanukkah lamp used by Rabbi Isaac Ossowski. The lamp was made by a stone mason in Berlin, Germany, in the 1920s. It was meant to have an original design unlike a traditional lamp and created for use as a mobile lamp. A Hanukkah lamp holds eight candles for the eight nights of Hanukkah; the ninth candle is the shamash [attendant] that is used to light the other candles. Because of their religious significance, the Hanukkah lights cannot be used in everyday ways, such as providing light. Traditionally, menorah refers only to the original seven branched lamp that stayed lit in the Temple; the nine branched lamp is a hanukiyah or Hanukkah lamp. Rabbi Ossowski was a prominent member of the Jewish community in Berlin. He was head shochet [ritual slaughterer], mohel [practioner of ritual circumcision], sofer [scribe], and hazan [cantor or musical prayer leader] at the Alte Shul [Old Synagogue]. After Hitler was appointed Chancellor in 1933, increasingly severe sanctions were enacted against Jews. The Ossowski family was repeatedly questioned by the SS (Schutzstaffel; Protection Squadrons) who gathered intelligence on opponents of the Nazi state and policed racial purity. In 1934, Isaac sent his youngest son, 14 year old Sol, to Lithuania to study at a yeshiva. In 1936, his sons, Joseph and Leo, left for the United States. In 1938, Isaac and his wife, Frida, and their daughter, Nettie, escaped Nazi Germany and joined Joseph in the US. Sol joined them there in 1939.
    Date
    creation:  1920
    emigration:  1938
    use:  approximately 1920-1938
    Geography
    use: Berlin (Germany)
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Sol Oster
    Contributor
    Subject: Isaac Ossowski
    Subject: Sol Oster
    Biography
    Isaac Ossowski was born in 1877 in Lubraniez, near Warsaw, Poland, to an extremely devout family and Hasidim, with a long tradition of religious study and service, as hazan [cantors], shochet [ritual slaughterer], mohels [perform ritual circumcision], and sofers [scribes.] His father, Menahem, was a shochet and Isaac attended Yeshiva in Russia. He resettled in Germany, first in Frankfurt am Main, then in Berlin. He married Frieda Schwartzbardt, born in 1888. They had three sons, Joseph, (1915-2011), Leo (b. 4/1/1913), and Sol (1919-2011), and one daughter, Nettie. Rabbi Ossowski became head shochet, overseeing the ritual slaughter of animals in Berlin. He also served as hazan, mohel, and sofer for the Alte Shule [Old Synagogue]. After Hitler was appointed Chancellor in 1933, the persecution of Jews became official government policy. Rabbi Ossowski and members of his family were interrogated several times by the SS (Schutzstaffel; Protection Squadrons) who gathered intelligence on opponents of the Nazi state and policed racial purity. In 1934, due to the threatening anti-Semitic climate of the Nazi state, he sent his young son, Sol, to Lithuania to study at a yeshiva. In 1938, Rabbi Ossowski, with his wife and daughter, escaped Nazi Germany for the United States. They joined their sons, Joseph and Leo, who had settled in the United States in 1936. Their son, Sol, joined them in the United States in 1939 after completing his rabbinical studies in England. Rabbi Ossowski, 66, died in Ohio in 1943.
    Sally (Sol) Ossowski was born on January 1, 1919, in Berlin, Germany, to Frieda Schwartzbardt, born in 1888, and Rabbi Issac Ossowski, born in 1877 in Lubraniez, Poland. Sol had two brothers, Leo, born on April 1, 1913, and Joseph, born in 1914, in Pfungstadt, and a sister, Nettie. His father was a prominent and active member of the Jewish community, serving as a shochet [ritual slaughterer], mohel [practioner of ritual circumcision], sofer [scribe], and cantor. The family attended the Alte Schul synagogue where Sol sang in the choir. He attended the Jewish Community School for Boys until he was 14 years old and was active in sports, plays, and clubs.
    By the early 1930s, and especially after Hitler's appointment as Chancellor in 1933, Sol noticed a change within society as people’s attitudes towards Jews began to change in response to the anti-Semitic policies of the Nazi government. The Ossowski family was the target of anti-Semitic behaviours and attacks, much of this due to his father's prominent position within the Jewish community. Some of Sol's friends stopped playing with him and neighbors no longer said hello. Members of the Hitler Youth attacked Sol on the subway, yelling “Jew, get out”, and attempted to open the doors of the moving train; Sol escaped, but not one person helped him. One day as they were on their way to temple, two SS (Schutzstaffel; Protection Squadrons) guards took Sol, his brothers, and father into the basement of a bar. Sol managed to escape, but was captured and returned; a neighbour talked the SS into letting them go. Another time, the SS forced their way into their home looking for contraband.

    As a result of this incident, Sol decided he wanted to leave Germany. Isaac supported this decision and made arrangements for him to attend seminary outside of Germany. Sol left in 1934 for a yeshiva in Ponevezh (Panevezys), Lithuania. He wanted to emigrate to Palestine and help establish a Jewish state. His brother, Joseph, got a visa for the United States with the help of a cousin, and emigrated in 1936. He sent Sol money for his living expenses. In December 1936, Sol received a letter from the German government requiring German citizens to register with the embassy in Kaunas and to hand in their passports. He was terrified that if he complied he would be stateless and unable to leave Lithuania. Sol believed emigration to Palestine was no longer an option. An Arab revolt in 1936 resulted in the British severely limiting immigration. He discussed his plight with Rabbi Kahaneman, the head of the Yeshiva. They decided that Sol should apply to the Tree of Life seminary in London. Sol no longer felt safe in Lithuania. Pro-Nazi groups were active in the country and anti-Semitism was growing stronger throughout the country. He decided to go into hiding in the Jasnegurke forest in January 1937. A farmer allowed him to live in his barn. Food was brought to him by the Green family whom he had lived with while in school. The mother, a cook at the Yeshiva, made food for Sol which her daughter brought to him. Once he received his acceptance letter from the seminary in June 1937, Sol came out of hiding and left for London via Denmark. He stayed for one week in Copenhagen with a local Rabbi before securing a ticket to London from the Joint Distribution Committee, a Jewish humanitarian assistance organization that aided German Jews in their flight from Nazi Europe. He entered England on a student visa in June 1937.

    Sol’s parents and sister left Germany for the United States via Belgium in 1938, having changed their name from Ossowski to Oster. Sol completed university and emigrated to the U.S. in 1939. He married Frieda Perl on December 20, 1947, and they had a son. He was the longest tenured rabbi at Temple Beth Israel-Shaare Zedek in Lima, Ohio, serving for more than 40 years. He retired in 1992, and was bestowed the honor of rabbi emeritus by his congregation. Leo died in 2008, Joseph in 2009, and his wife, Frieda, in 2011. Sol died on August 25, 2011, in Hilliard, Ohio at age 92.

    Physical Details

    Classification
    Jewish Art and Symbolism
    Object Type
    Hanukkah lamp (lcsh)
    Physical Description
    a. Rectangular, polished, brown and white marble candle holder, or shamash, with 2 carved insets on the top: one is circular to hold a candle; above it is a flame-shaped trough, with scratch lines, that extends to the edge of the marble to drain the wax. On the face of this edge is half of an etched Star of David inlaid with gold paint. The unpolished underside has a metal screw inserted into the top right and bottom left corners. The screws attach the shamash (a) to the Hanukkah candle holder (b). The shamash is elevated and set apart from the Hanukkah candles to make its service role clear.
    b. Rectangular, polished, brown and white marble candle holder with 16 carved insets in 2 rows on the top: 8 are circular to hold candles; above these are 8 flame-shaped troughs, with scratch lines, carved to the edge of the marble to drain the wax. In the center of each trough is a small carved circle. In the 2nd and 5th trough, the circles are open holes. On the top left side are 2 circular carved insets that connect the holder (b) to the shamash (a). On the face of this edge is half of an etched Star of David inlaid with gold paint. When the shamash (a) and candle holder (b) are attached, it creates a complete 6 pointed Star of David. The underside is unpolished.
    c. Rectangular, polished, brown, and white marble pedestal section. The side edges are carved out so the top extends ½ an inch while the bottom has an angled edge. At the top are 2 holes where the candle holder (b) is inserted. On the bottom are 2 holes for the screws attached to the base (d). The underside is unpolished.
    d. Rectangular, polished, brown, and white marble base with diagonal bottom corners. On the reverse center are 2 circular holes with a screw within to attach the base (d) to the pedestal (c). The underside is unpolished.
    Dimensions
    a: Height: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm) | Width: 1.620 inches (4.115 cm) | Depth: 2.620 inches (6.655 cm)
    b: Height: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm) | Width: 9.880 inches (25.095 cm) | Depth: 2.620 inches (6.655 cm)
    c: Height: 5.500 inches (13.97 cm) | Width: 4.620 inches (11.735 cm) | Depth: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm)
    d: Height: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm) | Width: 6.120 inches (15.545 cm) | Depth: 2.620 inches (6.655 cm)
    Materials
    a : marble, metal, paint
    b : marble, metal, paint
    c : marble, metal
    d : marble, metal

    Rights & Restrictions

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

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The Hanukkah lamp was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1992 by Rabbi Sol Oster, the son of Isaac Ossowski.
    Record last modified:
    2022-07-28 18:22:09
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn7112

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