us-005578-irn35862-irn36331
type: RecordSet
archival history: The focred labor badge was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2008 by Kay Nabel.
biographical history: Kay (Krystyna) Selinger (later Nabel) was born on October 20, 1922, in Krakow, Poland, to Wilhelm and Henryka Lewinger Selinger. She had a sister, Maryla, born in 1914 in Vienna, Austria, and a brother, Jan, born in 1916. Her father had a store where he repaired and sold machinery that he imported from Germany. Kay was very close to her maternal grandmother, Leontyna Lewinger. The family spent summers with her in Alwernia, 20 miles outside Krakow, and she stayed with the family during the winter. Although her father attended services weekly, the family was not particularly observant, except for the Jewish holidays. They spoke Polish at home. Kay attended an all girl’s school with a mixture of Jewish and non-Jewish students. The family lived comfortably until 1933, but after that her father’s business struggled because of the Depression. On September 1, 1939, the Germans invaded Poland. Kay’s father and sister fled east, but soon returned because of Wilhelm’s poor health. Some minor preparation for gas attacks had been made, but the bombs were a shock. Many people built ditches for cover, but Kay’s family hid in their basement. Krakow was occupied within a week. Her brother had joined the Polish army two years previously, but after the German occupation, the family lost contact with him. The Germans quickly implemented measures to exploit and persecute the Jewish population. Kay and Edward Nabel, born 1912, who had been her boyfriend since 1938, along with Edward’s brother, Jozek, and his girlfriend, decided to flee Krakow. Edward’s parents, Gustav and Rose Nabel, had already escaped to Lvov (Lviv, Ukraine), in the Soviet controlled sector in eastern Poland. They owned a silverware factory and the family wished to preserve their production pattern molds. Using kayaks to carry the molds, Kay and the others traveled to Lvov on the Vistula River. After 2-3 days, they buried the molds and continued on foot to Lvov, about 125 miles through German occupied territory. Once …
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Square yellow cloth badge stretched over cardboard and sewn closed on the back. The front has a dyed purple border and a purple P in the center, to be worn in a diamond orientation.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1943-01-01
has end date: 1944-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn36331
is or was included in: us-005578-irn35862
record resource extent: overall: Height: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Width: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Yellow badge with a purple P worn by 21 year old Krystyna (Kay) Nabel, to identify her as a Polish forced laborer in Germany from 1943-1944. During the German occupation of Poland, many non-Jewish Polish people were sent to Germany as conscript labor. When Kay and her husband Edward, Polish Jews, wore these badges they were living under false identities as Polish Catholics. Soon after Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Kay Selinger left her family in Krakow and fled with her future husband, Edward Nabel, to Lvov (Lviv, Ukraine] where his parents had already relocated. They married there in June 1940. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, they returned to Krakow to escape the anti-Jewish pogroms launched by the Germans and the local Ukrainian population. When the Krakow ghetto was being liquidated by the Germans, Kay and Edward were sent to Bauhof labor camp. They escaped and, around November 1942, assumed false identities as Polish Catholics. They were sent as forced labor to Germany. Under their false identities, they were not married, so although for a time they worked on the same farm, most of this time they were assigned to separate locations. When they learned that Allied forces were approaching, they escaped and hid in the forests near Kongishofen where they were liberated by American troops on April 8, 1945. Edward's parents and all of Kay's family were killed in concentration camps. In October 1949, Kay and Edward emigrated to the US.
title: Forced labor badge, yellow with a purple P, worn by a Polish Jewish woman in hiding as a Catholic