us-005578-irn36426-irn37631
type: RecordSet
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: a. Hand tefillin, a square, black painted leather box (batim) centered on a layered black painted, leather platform, sewn with gut from kosher animals (giddin), with an attached black painted, brown leather strap, with reverse calf on the bottom. The strap is cracked with age and loosely coiled on both sides of the platform. The box is made to contain a parchment prayer scroll. b. Head tefillin, a square, black painted leather box (batim) centered on a layered black painted, leather platform, sewn with gut from a kosher animal (giddin), with an attached black painted, brown leather strap, with a reverse calf bottom. Two sides of the box have an embossed Hebrew letter. The box is made to contain 4 parchment prayer scrolls. c. Rectangular, green velvet drawstring pouch, with 2 green cord drawstrings on either side of the opening. A large 6-pointed Star of David, with 2 Hebrew letters below, is embroidered in silver metallic thread on the front. The interior is lined with dark green silk. c. center, embroidered : 2 Hebrew letters Alef / Dalet
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1939 October
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: heb
has record set type: Item
history: Franz (Frank) Meissner was born on September 18, 1923, in Trest, Czechoslovakia to Norbert and Lotte. He had an older brother, Leo, and his paternal grandfather also lived with them. His father had owned a wooden shoe factory, but it closed during the economic crisis of 1929. His mother worked as a secretary at her brother’s machine factory to support the family. His father was the president of their synagogue and they went to synagogue every morning. The Jewish community in Trest was small, with only 64 members in 1930. There was no secondary school in Trest, so when Frank was 11 years old he attended school in a neighboring town. In 1937, he left school to apprentice at his uncle’s machine factory. That year he also joined Youth Aliyah, a Zionist youth group, and traveled to Prague to learn Hebrew and to develop a farm proposal for emigration to Palestine. Both brothers wished to emigrate from Czechoslovakia, with the entire family joining them later. In October 1939, because of increasing persecution by the Germans, Youth Aliyah arranged the emigration from Czechoslovakia to Denmark of many members, including 16 year old Frank. Leo, still waiting to go to Palestine, chose to remain with their parents. Frank was strip searched at the border wehn he eft October 24. He and the other boys were sent to live and work on farms in Denmark. After an initial unpleasant placement, Frank stayed with the Nielsen family, where he was made to feel like part of the family and became involved with the Nielsen’s church. In 1941, he earned a scholarship to attend an agricultural high school in Denmark. Through these early years of the war, Frank received weekly letters from his family. In May of 1942, his family wrote that they were getting ready for their departure, although they do not know where they are going. They tell Frank that they are proud of him and that he should not worry about the family. After graduating high school, Frank enrolled in the Agricultural College of the …
history: The tefillin bag and tefillin were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2009 by Margit Meissner, the widow of Frank Meissner.
identifier: irn37631
is or was included in: us-005578-irn36426
record resource extent: a: Height: 6.250 inches (15.875 cm) | Width: 7.000 inches (17.78 cm) b: Height: 4.750 inches (12.065 cm) | Width: 4.500 inches (11.43 cm) c: Height: 9.250 inches (23.495 cm) | Width: 5.500 inches (13.97 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Tefillin set and green velvet storage pouch used by Franz Meissner who left Czechoslovakia for Denmark in October 1939. Tefillin are small boxes that contain prayers that are attached to leather straps and worn by Orthodox Jewish males during morning prayers. Franz, age 16, left Trest in October 1939 because of the increasing persecution of Jews as Czechoslovakia was dismembered by Nazi Germany and its allies. With the encouragement of his family, he left for Denmark with Youth Aliyah, a organization that helped people to emigrate to Palestine. In 1943, the Germans began to deport all Jews from Denmark. Frank was warned that the Gestapo was looking for him and he was smuggled on a fishing boat to Sweden. He had been receiving weekly letters from his family, even after their deportation to the Theresienstadt ghetto in 1942; the letters stopped in 1943. After completing his education, Franz left for Great Britain where he joined the Czech army in exile. In the fall of 1944, Franz learned that his family had been sent to Auschwitz death camp. After the war, he returned to Czechoslovakia, searching for his family, but he found no survivors.
title: Pair of tefillin with an embroidered green velvet bag used by a Czech Jewish refugee