us-005578-irn107296-irn539384
type: RecordSet
archival history: The prayer book was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015 by Lore Kirchheimer, the daughter of Hellmuth and Hedwig Baer.
biographical history: Lore Baer (later Lore Kirchheimer) was born on October 16, 1928, in Mannheim, Germany, to a Jewish couple, Hellmuth and Hedwig Wolf Baer. Hellmuth was born on June 18, 1890, in Mannheim, to Max and Henrietta Baer and Hedwig was born on April 6, 1902, in Rastatt, Germany, to Leopold and Mathilde Wolf. Lore had one brother, Max, who was born in Mannheim, on January 22, 1924. Hellmuth was the director of a bank and the family lived in a large apartment. They were an observant Jewish family who kept kosher, attended synagogue, and observed the Shabbat. Lore attended a Jewish school where she learned to read and write in Hebrew. Her brother, Max, attended school in Italy, where he was studying to be a chef. After Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in January 1933, anti-Semitic restrictions were passed to restrict Jewish life and isolate them from society. These restrictions eventually resulted in Hellmuth being fired from his job. On November 10, 1938, during Kristallnacht pogrom, German SS officers entered the family’s apartment, destroyed their belongings, and arrested Hellmuth. Lore’s mother visited the police station daily in an effort to find him, and after several weeks learned that he had been taken to Dachau concentration camp where he was given the prisoner number 20370. Hedwig was able to secure his release in late December 1938. Lore recalls that her father was not the same after he returned home, and her mother worked tirelessly to get the family out of Germany. She managed to get passage for Hellmuth to Japanese occupied Shanghai, China, soon after his release, enabled Max to remain in Italy, and arranged for Lore to be sent to England on a Kindertransport. In May 1939, Lore was ten years old when her mother put her on the train in Mannheim. She arrived at Liverpool station and was taken in by the Pizers, a working class Jewish family in the East End of London. Lore could speak no English, and the family spoke no German, so the only way they could communicat…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Book; v. 1-2 (in 1 vol.) v. 1: Rosch ha-Schanah Erster tag; v. 2: Rosch ha-Schanah Zweiter tag; 28th Edition; v.1: 1-344pp, I-XXIVpp, v.2: 1-309pp, I-XXIVpp; 20.7cm. Prayer book bound in navy blue cloth with gilt gold title embossed in Fraktur font within a gold bordered box on the front cover. The mahzor contains two volumes: one for the first day of Rosh Hashanah, and one for the second. The book is part of a four volume, two book set. interior, front flyleaf, handwritten script, black ink: Our sweetheart dearest daughter and sister/ Lore Baer/ [?] her 13th birthday – 16th October 1941 – presented in love by her parents and brother./ May you pray, dear Lore, in this book, healthy and happy in a long beauty-ful life, always in most love-ly remembrance for your parents and your brother./ Grow and prosper [?] Your and our luck./ The happiest hope and wishes for our early reunion in health and satisfaction:/ Your mother: Hedwig Baer born Wolf – at present in Camp de Gurs, France/ Your father: Hellmuth Baer at present Shanghai (China)/Your brother: Max Baer interior, front flyleaf backside, handwritten script, black ink: at present in a camp in Australia/Shanghai (China) 18th June 1941 on the day of my 51st birthday/Your loving Daddy
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1941 October 16
has beginning date: 1928-01-01
has end date: 1941-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had some members with language: heb
has or had subject: 1980
has or had subject: 0
has or had subject: 1976
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn539384
is or was included in: us-005578-irn107296
record resource extent: overall: Height: 8.125 inches (20.638 cm) | Width: 5.250 inches (13.335 cm) | Depth: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Prayer book for the first and second day of Rosh Hashanah inscribed with a message to Lore Baer for her 13th birthday by her father, Hellmuth Baer, while he was in Shanghai, China. Lore was living with her father and mother, Hedwig in Mannheim, Germany, when on November 10, 1938, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, German SS officers entered the family’s apartment, destroyed their belongings, arrested Hellmuth, and sent him to Dachau concentration camp. Lore’s mother secured his release in December 1938, and got him passage to Shanghai. In May 1939, Lore was sent to England on a Kindertransport. Lore’s brother Max was studying in Italy, and came to visit her in England. He was arrested as an enemy alien and sent to Australia on board the HMT Dunera. In 1942, while returning to England, his ship was torpedoed, and Max died in the attack. In France, Lore’s mother was sent to Gurs internment camp and then to Drancy transit camp. Later, she was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center in German-occupied Poland where she was murdered on September 2, 1942. Hellmuth died in Shanghai in May 1946 of pleurisy. That same month, Lore immigrated to the United States with the help of relatives. She married Harry Kirchheimer, who was one of 50 children rescued from Vienna by the Kraus family.
title: Prayers of the Israelites Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah prayer book given to a German Kindertransport refugee by her father