us-005578-irn35230-irn36289
type: RecordSet
archival history: The skirt and top were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2008 by Judith Stieglitz Kessler.
biographical history: Yehudit Steiglitz was born in Subotica, Yugoslavia (Serbia), on August 28, 1923. She is the only child of Alex Steiglitz, born in 1893 in Sezsmarok, Slovakia, and Ella Hollander, born in 1897 in Szepesvaralja (?) (Spišské Podhradi), Slovakia). Her parents were secular Jews with Zionist leanings. Prior to the war, Alex owned a modern windmill. In April 1941, the Germans invaded Yugoslavia and partitioned it; Hungary was given the northern region that included Subotica. The Hungarians allowed the Jewish students to finish their school exams, thus Yehudit was able to graduate that April. She began to learn how to sew from the seamstress who made clothes for her mother and herself. In April 1944, her father and her uncle were rounded up with other Jewish men and sent to the Topoya holding center. From there, they were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. In 1944, Yehudit, her mother, and her grandmother were sent to the ghetto where Yehudit was able to work as a seamstress. After about three weeks, they were sent to the ghetto in Bacsalmas, Hungary. While they were in the ghetto, Hungarians were given possession of their home. A judge was given two of the rooms; he said that he did not need any of their possessions and would protect them. Another family, a Christian woman and her Jewish husband, stayed in the other three rooms; they also said that they would take care of the apartment and the contents. While they were in the Bacsalmas ghetto, the German commandant received a letter from Budapest listing the names of the Zionists in the area, including Yehudit’s father. Yehudit, her mother, and her grandmother were removed from the ghetto and taken to the synagogue, where they were held all night with the others on the list. In the morning, when they were released, they saw that the ghetto had been evacuated. The inhabitants had been loaded on cattle cars and transported in compliance with the German desire that all Jews be expelled from Hungary. Hungarian police …
physical characteristics and technical requirements: (a) Multicolored cloth top with short puffed sleeves that was originally the bodice of a dress. The cloth has a design with green leaves and yellow flowers with a red and white checkered heart in the center scattered over a blue background. It is a pullover with a clasp at neckline and 3 snaps hidden under the front opening placket. The pleated waistline has a wide band with 2 sets of side snaps. The inside of the sleeve hem has a strip of white fabric a with red geometric pattern attached, (b) Multicolored cloth skirt made from what was originally a dress. It has a small waist opening that flares out to the bottom hem. The waistline hem is unfinished. There is a dart opening at the side of the waist with 2 sets of snaps. The inside of the bottom hem has a strip of white fabric with a red geometric pattern attached.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1942-01-01
has end date: 1945-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn36289
is or was included in: us-005578-irn35230
record resource extent: a: Height: 17.380 inches (44.145 cm) | Width: 24.880 inches (63.195 cm) b: Height: 21.880 inches (55.575 cm) | Width: 26.880 inches (68.275 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Dress owned by 20-year-old Judith Kessler and made for her by a seamstress in her hometown of Subotica, Yugoslavia (Serbia.) It was originally a dress, but was modfied into a top and skirt during the war. Judith and her mother were interned in the Bacsalmas ghetto and then deported to Pest, Hungary, by the Hungarian police, following the occupation of the country by the Germans. They were told they were being sent to Palestine, but instead were taken to Bergen-Belsen by train from Budapest as part of a rescue effort organized by Rezso Kasztner. Later in 1944, they were transferred to safety in Switzerland.
title: Blue two-piece dress with multicolored hearts