Lusthaus family photographs

Contains seven photographic prints documenting Elzbieta Lusthaus after liberation, most of which show her with the doll given to her by her father Edmund Lusthaus when they were reunited for the first time after the war in Ancona, Italy in 1945. Includes a photographic print showing the Lusthaus family on board the "Queen Mary" during their journey to the United States.

Floral tapestry purse saved by a hidden child

Object

Floral tapestry purse that was owned by Zofia (Sophie) Lieberman Schiff, and saved by her granddaughter Elzbieta Lusthaus. When Poland was invaded in September 1939, one year old Elzbieta and her mother Helena were separated from her father Edmund, a doctor in the Polish Army. Elzbieta and Helena left Krakow to live with Zofia in Tarnow. Helena did forced labor as a seamstress. On June 11, 1942, German troops came to the house searching for Jews to deport to concentration camps. Four year old Elzbieta hid, but her grandmother was taken by and sent to Belzec killing center. Elzbieta and her mother fled Tarnow and survived with false identities as Polish Catholics, sheltered by a Catholic family in Milanowek. After the area was liberated in January 1945, Helena had them smuggled in May into Czechoslovakia. The family was reunited after a doctor recognized Helena in a displaced persons camp in Munich. He told her Edmund was alive and Edmund sent an ambulance to bring them to Italy. He was released from Soviet prison in 1941 and joined the volunteer Polish Army of the East, which became the 2nd Polish Corps, British Army. The family emigrated to England in December 1946.

Large doll with long blond hair given to a former hidden child by her father when reunited postwar

Object

Large doll with a gingham dress, acquired later, given to 7 year old Elzbieta Lusthaus as a gift from her father Edmund when they were reunited after four years apart in September 1945 in Ancona, Italy. It was the first doll Elzbieta ever owned. The family was separated when the war began in September 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany. Dr. Lusthaus had enlisted in the Polish Army and was with his parents in Stryj when he was captured by the Soviets and sent to a prisoner of war labor camp in Siberia. Elzbieta, her mother, and her maternal grandmother Sophie Schiff were confined to the Tarnow ghetto. During a deportation action in June 1942, the SS came and took Sophie away, while Elzbieta hid. Helena and Elzbieta went into hiding aided by Christian friends. Helena obtained false identities for them and when the Germans decreed that Tarnow would soon be Judenfrei, they fled in April 1943 for Milanowek. They lived as Polish Catholics, Barbara and Maria Stachura, sheltered by Kazimierz and Genowefa Bandyrowa and their daughters, a Catholic family. The area was liberated in January 1945. In May, Helena had them smuggled into Czechoslovakia. The family was reunited after a doctor recognized Helena in a displaced persons camp in Munich. He told her Edmund was alive and Edmund sent an ambulance to bring them to Italy. He had been released from the Soviet prison in 1941 and joined the volunteer Polish Army of the East, known as Anders Army, which became the 2nd Polish Corps, British Army. The family emigrated to England in December 1946.