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The bottom piece of a suit made by Dora Swierkowska Zajac (donor's mother) in Berlin at the end of 1937. She completed it shortly before her death of TB on January 5, 1938. It was then worn by Anna Leist who kept the suit with her throughout the war.

Photograph | Not Digitized | Photograph Number: N10649

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    Overview

    Caption
    The bottom piece of a suit made by Dora Swierkowska Zajac (donor's mother) in Berlin at the end of 1937. She completed it shortly before her death of TB on January 5, 1938. It was then worn by Anna Leist who kept the suit with her throughout the war.
    Date
    1937
    Locale
    Berlin, [Berlin] Germany
    Variant Locale
    Berlin-Buckow
    Berlin-Mariendorf
    Berlin-Ploetzensee
    Berlin-Reinickendorf
    Berlin-Tempelhof
    Berlin-Wannsee
    Berlin-Schlachtensee
    Berlin-Duppel
    Photo Credit
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Anna Leist

    Rights & Restrictions

    Photo Source
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    Provenance: Anna Leist

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Artifact Photographer
    Max Reid
    Biography
    Anna Leist (born Anni Zajac) is the daughter of Wolf Zajac and Dora Swierkowska Zajac. Anni was born on January 28, 1925 in Manheim Germany where her father worked as a self-employed tailor. Her parents came from Zgierz, Poland, near Lodz. After they married, they moved to Manheim, Germany where their seven oldest children were born: Felix, Samuel, Anni, Jacob (Jack), Henni, Joseph, and Lydia. In 1930 they moved to Berlin where they gave birth to twins Hella and Hermann. The Zajacs also had two other children who died in infancy. In 1935, the Germans deported Wolf to Posnan, Poland. The rest of the family should have gone as well except that Dora was suffering from tuberculosis and was too ill to follow him. After her health deteriorated further, she placed the seven younger children in the AHAWAH children's home in 1936. The two oldest brothers, Felix and Samuel, remained with their mother until she passed away on January 5, 1938. After her death, Samuel left Germany to join his father in Poland in April 1938, and Felix joined a hachshara in Berlin only to be deported to Poland as well that October. Wolf found him on the Polish border and brought him to his home. The two brothers then joined a new hachshara in Warsaw and after the start of World War II escaped to Vilna. They reached Palestine eight months later, lived on a kibbutz and eventually joined the Jewish Brigade.

    Anni, Henni, Jacob and Joseph remained in the AHAWAH home until December 14, 1938 when they went on the second Kindertransport to England. They spent one night in Dovercourt in Harwich and then were sent to Willesden, an Orthodox hostel in London. One month later, Jacob celebrated his bar mitzvah. He was the first Kindertransport boy to celebrate his bar mitzvah in England. Lydia, Hella and Hermann remained in Berlin but after their mother's death were transferred to different children's homes. Lydia came to England on a Kindertransport on August 13, 1939 and was placed in various foster homes. The twins, Hella and Hermann, were sent to Sweden and spent the war there. At the start of the war, the other children became separated. Jack and Joseph were sent to live in Margate for a short time and then returned to London. Henni and Anni were evacuated to the country. Henni remained there while Anni returned to London and worked in an ammunition factory. Twice she was bombed out and had to move to a new hostel. Henni and Joseph eventually joined her. Jacob joined the Jewish Brigade and unexpectedly met up with Felix and Samuel in Naples, Italy. Though their father perished in the Holocaust having been incarcerated in the Lublin ghetto, all nine children survived. After the war, Jacob, Anni, Joseph, Henni and Lydia immigrated to the United States. Hella remained in Sweden. Hermann immigrated to Israel to join his older brothers Samuel and Felix.
    Record last modified:
    2004-05-12 00:00:00
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/pa1152001

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