Concentration camp uniform pants with red triangle patch worn by Polish Jewish inmate
- Date
-
use:
approximately 1940-1945 May
- Geography
-
issue:
Auschwitz (Concentration camp);
Oświęcim (Poland)
use: Sachsenhausen (Concentration camp); Sachsendorf (Wurzen, Germany)
use: Porta Westfalica (Concentration camp); Porta Westfalica (Germany)
use: Fehrbellin (Concentration camp); Fehrbellin (Germany)
use: Ludwigsdorf (Concentration camp); Ludwikowice Klodzkie (Poland)
- Language
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German
- Classification
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Clothing and Dress
- Category
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Concentration camp uniforms
- Object Type
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Pants (lcsh)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Leon Ginsburg
Striped blue and gray concentration uniform pants worn by Mieczyslaw Watnicki in Auschwitz concentration camp from late 1940 until his liberation in Germany in May 1945. The pants have a red inverted triangle badge with the letter P on the upper left thigh. This would indicate that Mieczyslaw was a Polish political prisoner. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Mieczyslaw lived in Warsaw under a false identity as a non-Jew. He was arrested in late 1940 for falsifying identity papers, but the Gestapo did not discover that he was Jewish. He was sent to Auschwitz as a Polish political prisoner and assigned prisoner number 137605. In late 1944 or early 1945, Mieczyslaw was sent to Oranienburg slave labor camp in Germany. He was later sent to Sachenhausen, Porta Westfalica, Stendal, Fehrbellin, and Ludwigslust, likely on a death march. Mieczyslaw was liberated in May 1945. Mieczyslaw’s wife, parents and four siblings were killed in the Holocaust. He immigrated to America in 1950. He became friends with Leon Ginsburg and at some point, entrusted him with his concentration camp uniform. Ginsburg, as a child, survived the Holocaust in hiding in Poland and Ukraine.
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Record last modified: 2021-03-08 16:25:42
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn7297
Also in Marek Watnicki collection
The collection consists of a concentration camp uniform cap, jacket, and pants, and Łódź ghetto coin relating to the experiences of Mieczyslaw (Marek) Watnicki during the Holocaust when he was in Auschwitz concentration camp in German occupied Poland.
Concentration camp uniform jacket worn by a Polish Jewish inmate
Object
Striped concentration uniform jacket worn by Mieczyslaw Watnicki in Auschwitz concentration camp from late 1940 until his liberation in Germany in May 1945. The jacket breast has a white patch with an inverted red triangle with a P and the number 13760., one digit off from Mieczyslaw's number 137605. The red triangle with P indicates a Polish political prisoner. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Mieczyslaw lived in Warsaw under a false identity as a non-Jew. He was arrested in late 1940 for falsifying identity papers, but the Gestapo did not discover that he was Jewish. He was sent to Auschwitz as a Polish political prisoner and assigned prisoner number 137605. In late 1944 or early 1945, Mieczyslaw was sent to Oranienburg slave labor camp in Germany. He was later sent to Sachenhausen, Porta Westfalica, Stendal, Fehrbellin, and Ludwigslust, likely on a death march. Mieczyslaw was liberated in May 1945. Mieczyslaw’s wife, parents and four siblings were killed in the Holocaust. He immigrated to America in 1950. He became friends with Leon Ginsburg and at some point, entrusted him with his concentration camp uniform. Ginsburg, as a child, survived the Holocaust in hiding in Poland and Ukraine.
Concentration camp uniform cap worn by a Polish Jewish inmate
Object
Striped concentration uniform cap worn by Mieczyslaw Watnicki in Auschwitz concentration camp from late 1940 until his liberation in Germany in May 1945. The pants have a red badge with the letter P, indicating that Mieczyslaw was a Polish political prisoner. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Mieczyslaw lived in Warsaw under a false identity as a non-Jew. He was arrested in late 1940 for falsifying identity papers, but the Gestapo did not discover that he was Jewish. He was sent to Auschwitz as a Polish political prisoner and assigned prisoner number 137605. In late 1944 or early 1945, Mieczyslaw was sent to Oranienburg slave labor camp in Germany. He was later sent to Sachenhausen, Porta Westfalica, Stendal, Fehrbellin, and Ludwigslust, likely on a death march. Mieczyslaw was liberated in May 1945. Mieczyslaw’s wife, parents and four siblings were killed in the Holocaust. He immigrated to America in 1950. He became friends with Leon Ginsburg and at some point, entrusted him with his concentration camp uniform. Ginsburg, as a child, survived the Holocaust in hiding in Poland and Ukraine.
Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 10 mark coin
Object
10 mark Litzmannstadt coin owned by Mieczyslaw Watnicki, although when or how he acquired it is unknown. This type of coin was issued in Łódź Ghetto in German occupied Poland in 1943. Currency was not allowed in the ghetto, and scrip was issued for use only there. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Mieczyslaw lived in Warsaw under a false identity as a non-Jew. He was arrested in late 1940 for falsifying identity papers, but the Gestapo did not discover that he was Jewish. He was sent to Auschwitz as a Polish political prisoner and assigned prisoner number 137605. In late 1944 or early 1945, Mieczyslaw was sent to Oranienburg slave labor camp in Germany. He was later sent to Sachenhausen, Porta Westfalica, Stendal, Fehrbellin, and Ludwigslust, likely on a death march. Mieczyslaw was liberated in May 1945. Mieczyslaw’s wife, parents and four siblings were killed in the Holocaust. He immigrated to America in 1950. He became friends with Leon Ginsburg and at some point, entrusted him with his concentration camp uniform. Ginsburg, as a child, survived the Holocaust in hiding in Poland and Ukraine.