us-005578-irn35803-irn36259
has or had holder: us-005578
scope and content: Embroidered white matzoh cover with a Star of David, goblet, and Hebrew inscription recovered after the war by Rita Grunbaum. The inscription includes the date 1919 and the blessing over the matzoh that is recited at the seder. Rita was living in Rotterdam with her husband, Manfred, when Nazi Germany invaded the country on May 10, 1940. Jews became targets of official persecution. Manfred was arrested but quickly released in October 1941. Rita and Manfred decided to have a child to show faith in the future and their daughter, Dorien, was born on August 28, 1942. A year later, two SS men and a Dutch policemen came and arrested them on September 29, 1943. While in the local police station, they considered giving their baby to a non-Jewish woman about to be released, but decided that the family should stay together. They were sent to Westerbork transit camp, and then to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. On April 9, 1945, the Germans began to evacuate the camp because of advancing Allied forces and the inmates were loaded onto trains. Their guards abandoned them near Troebitz, Germany, and with the arrival of Soviet Forces on April 23, they realized that they were free. The family returned to Holland on July 1, 1945.
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
record resource extent: overall: | Diameter: 20.500 inches (52.07 cm)
type: RecordSet
is or was included in: us-005578-irn35803
title: Matzoh cover with an embroidered Star of David, kiddush cup, and Hebrew inscription recovered postwar by a Dutch Jewish family
identifier: irn36259
biographical history: Dorien Grunbaum was born August 28, 1942, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Rita Van Leeuwen, who was born on April 9, 1910, in Rotterdam, and Manfred Grunbaum, who was born November 20, 1903, in Frankfurt, Germany. Her paren married in 1936. Her mother was trained as a social worker and the couple operated a grain import/export business. Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940. By 1942, there were frequent deportations of Jews to concentration camps in Poland. But Rita and Manfred decided that having a child would express thier faith in an end to the war. On September 29, 1943, two German SS-men and one Dutch policeman came to arrest her parents. While the family was detained at local German headquarters, her parents had an opportunity to give one year old Dorien to a non-Jewish woman to protect her, but they decided to stay together. The family was sent to Westerbork transit camp. During this time, Manfred’s parents, who had escaped to Mexico before the German invasion, arranged for them to receive certificates to Palestine. These would supposedly make them eligible for possible exchange for German prisoners-of-war held by the British in Palestine. On February 14, 1944, the family was sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. Dorien stayed with her mother in the women’s quarters. That winter, conditions in the camp worsened to below subsistence levels. The camp was packed with tens of thousands prisoners from concentration camps in Poland as the Germans evacuated the area to escape the advancing Soviet Army. Dorien was very ill with pneumonia and an ear infection. In April 9, 1945, the Grunbaum family and other prisoners were put onto a train for evacuation. They were on the train for two weeks, with almost no food, but only went 50 miles as the train was constantly diverted to avoid allied bombings. On April 23, 1945, the German guards disappeared near the town of Troebitz, Germany. Soon they saw Soviet troops and knew that they were free. Both he…
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn35803-irn36259/alternateIDs/1
has beginning date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1919-01-01
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
date: after 1945 July
archival history: The matzah cover was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2008 by Dorien Grunbaum. the daughter of Manfred and Rita Grunbaum.
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn35803-irn36259/acquisitions/1
has or had some members with language: heb
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Circular white matzoh cover with a white cloth center with a large, open work embroidered 6 pointed Star of David with a satin stitched goblet in the center and satin stitched Hebrew characters within the center points. At the top of the star is the date; at the bottom is an abbreviation to indicate that the above date is according to the minor reckoning. A Hebrew inscription in satin stitch is embroidered around the star and border of the cloth. This is the the blessing used during seder with the first 6 words indicated only by the first letter with an apostrophe. There is a crocheted net border with diamonds and a petal like decorative edge sewn to the cloth. front, circumference, embroidered, white thread : Hebrew text includes abbreviations [Transliteration: B(aruch) A(tah) A(donai), El(oheynu) M(elech) Ha(-olam), Asher Kidshanu Bi-mitzvotav, Vi'-tsivanu 'Al Achilat Matsah [Praised are you, Adonai our God, ruler of the universe, who sanctifies us through His commandments, and commands us to eat matzoh.] front, top point of star, embroidered, white thread : Hebrew text [(679) + 1240] front, bottom point of star, embroidered, white thread : Hebrew text includes abbreviations [L(")F(rat) K(atan)] [indicated above date is per minor reckoning]
has end date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1919-12-31
has record set type: Item