Overview
- Description
- The Fanny Scheer papers consist of writings, a passport, and photographs documenting the Scheer family’s experiences in prewar Załoźce, Poland (Zaliztsi, Ukraine), wartime Załoźce and Reniv, and postwar Opole. Writings include pages of Scheer’s 1943 description of her family’s experiences in Załośce and Reniv, Poland (now Ukraine) under Soviet and German occupation and a notebook including Scheer’s 1965 description of the fate of her family members. The passport was issued on March 13, 1946 in Warsaw, Poland to Fanny Scheer and her daughter, Cyla (Celia) and includes 1949 and 1950 immigration visas to Canada and the United States. Six photographs and one copy print depict the Scheer family before the war in Załoźce, Poland (Zaliztsi, Ukraine) and after the war in Opole, Poland.
- Date
-
inclusive:
circa 1934-1965
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Celia Scheer Dymant
- Collection Creator
- Fanny M. Scheer
- Biography
-
Fanny Scheer (1910-2008) was born Feiga Moszkowicz on July 15, 1910 in Reniv, Poland (now Ukraine) to Josef Moszkowicz and Shprinza Lausker Moszkowicz. She was the the youngest of eleven children. In 1933 she married Froim Scheer (b. October 16, 1904), son of Leib Scheer and Slava Moszkowicz Scheer. The couple settled in Załoźce (now Zaliztsi, Ukraine). Their only child, Cyla Scheer (later Celia Dymant), was born on March 13, 1934. The Scheers lived in the same building as Froim’s bakery, where Fanny and other family members also worked.
When the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland in 1939, the family bakery was confiscated and the Scheers were evicted from their home and had to move in with relatives. They continued to work at the bakery. Germany occupied eastern Poland in June 1941 and persecuted or killed the Jewish residents of Załoźce. In the summer of 1942, Gestapo agents arrived from Tarnopol, and more Jewish residents were killed, but the Scheer family and their relatives were kept in town because of the need for bakers. In October 1942, most of the remaining Jews were sent to the ghetto in Zborow. Froim, Fanny, Celia, and some other relatives hid with the help of a former maid, Tachka Barkito, and her family and then by a rapid series of Ukrainian peasants. Most of their helpers lived near Reniv and included Mikolo Barkito, Samko Kokorozu, and Roman Zacharow. Around the spring of 1943, the Scheer, Lausker, and Moszkowicz families prepared dugouts in the forest near Reniv to hide.
On March 7, 1944, the region was liberated by Soviet partisans. The area was soon retaken by the Germans, and the surviving Jews escaped to the east. After the city was liberated once again by the Red Army on March 23, the Scheers returned to town and discovered other people living in their home. In spring 1945, the family moved to Zborow and later to Opole. The family relocated to Paris, France in April 1946, to Canada in September 1949, and immigrated to the United States in 1950, arriving in New York on August 18. Fanny Scheer died in New Jersey on December 3, 2008.
Physical Details
- Genre/Form
- Passports. Photographs. Personal narratives.
- Extent
-
3 folders
- System of Arrangement
- The collection is arranged in two files: 1) Writings, and 2) Passport and photographs.
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- The donor, source institution, or a third party has asserted copyright over some or all of the material(s) in this collection. You do not require further permission from the Museum to use this material. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.
- Copyright Holder
- Ms. Celia Dymant
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Celia Dymant donated the Fanny Scheer papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2011 and 2019. Accessions numbered 2011.239.1 and 2019.80.1 have been incorporated into this collection.
- Primary Number
- 2011.239.4
- Record last modified:
- 2023-09-08 10:31:50
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn754983
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Also in Feiga Scheer collection
The collection consists of a dress, a book, and documents relating to the experiences of Feiga Moszkowicz Scheer and her family in Poland before and during the Holocaust which they survived by living in hiding and after the Holocaust in Poland, France, Canada, and the United States. Some of these materials may be combined into a single collection in the future.
Date: 1943-1965 November
Blue and white striped dress made postwar by a Jewish Polish survivor
Object
Blue and white striped dress sewn by Feiga Moszkowicz Scheer in postwar Poland circa 1945. The war began in September 1939 when Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland. Feiga, her husband Froim, and daughter Cyla, 5, lived in Zalosce, which was occupied by the Soviets. The family bakery was confiscated. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. In July, many Jewish residents were shot and Jewish homes were looted by their Ukrainian neighbors. In October 1942, the remaining Jews were sent to the Zborow ghetto. Feiga, Froim, Cyla, and other family members were hidden by their former maid, Tachka Barkito. They were later hidden by several Ukrainian peasant families, staying only a short time with each. Around spring 1943, they built forest dugouts near Reniv where they hid until liberated by Soviet partisans in March 1944. After living underground for so long, Cyla and her cousins were unable to walk when they emerged. The family returned to Zalosce where they found another family living in their home. In spring 1945, they moved to western Poland, and then in April 1946, they moved to Paris.
Yiddish textbook used by a Jewish Polish survivor
Object
Yiddish textbook used by 12 year old Cyla Scheer, after her family left Poland for Paris, France, in April 1946. The war began in September 1939 when Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland. Cyla and her parents Feiga and Froim lived in Zalosce, which was occupied by the Soviets. The family bakery was confiscated. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union and entered Zalosce in July. Many Jewish residents were shot and Jewish homes were looted by their Ukrainian neighbors. In October 1942, the remaining Jews were transported to the Zborow ghetto. Feiga, Froim, Cyla, and other family members were hidden by their former maid, Tachka Barkito. They were later hidden by several other Ukrainian peasant families, staying only a short time with each. Around spring 1943, they built dugouts in the forest near Reniv where they stayed until liberated by Soviet partisans in March 1944. After living underground for so long, Cyla and her cousins were unable to walk when they emerged. The family returned to Zalosce where they found another family living in their home. In spring 1945, they moved to other towns in western Poland, until April 23, 1946, when they moved to Paris.
