us-005578-irn40091-irn42606
type: RecordSet
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: Tall, cylindrical, silver-plated, metal cup that widens slightly toward the top. A narrow etched groove circles the cup 1.75 inches below the rim, separating the shiny, top section from the lower, matte portion. There are three lines of engraved Hebrew text, a bible verse, in the top section, and 11 lines of English text, personal details, in the bottom section. The flat base bears fine circular lines and an incised mark. front, upper body, engraved : Hebrew text [Remember what Amalek did to you] front, lower body, engraved: NO 36691 / IDA RITTER / Vilmany / Kassa / (Hungary) / Auschwitz / Birkenau / Peterswaldau / 1944 / Liberated / May 8th, 1945
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1944 May-1945 May 08, approximately 1989, 1944 May-1945 April
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had some members with language: heb
has record set type: Item
history: The commemorative vessel was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2010 by George and Katie Frankfurter.
history: Kato Ritter (later Katie, Ida Katie Frankfurter) was born on August 26, 1925, in Vilmany, Hungary, to David and Gizella Weissburg Ritter. David was born in 1898 in Novajidrany, Hungary, to Matlyas and Kati Ritter. Gizella was born in 1900 in Olaszliszka, Hungary, to Zigmund and Pearl Klein Weissburg. Kato had one brother, Matlyas, and two sisters, Lillian and Julianna, born in 1927. Matlyas and Lillian both died at a young age. David was injured during his military service in the Hungarian Army in World War I (1914-1918.) He was a farmer, and also owned several general goods, butcher, and grocery stores in Vilmany and nearby villages. Gizella assisted in managing the stores. The family occasionally had servants and distant relatives living in the household. Kato’s maternal and paternal grandparents were observant Jews, but Kato’s family was not religious, although they did observe the high holidays. The family spoke Hungarian at home, but both parents spoke German and her father also spoke Yiddish. When Kato was six, her mother taught her embroidery. Kato attended middle school, and later attended a gymnasium in Budapest, Hungary, where she lived with a maternal aunt and uncle, the Sekes. In 1938, the German-allied Hungarian government began enacting anti-Jewish legislation, and Kato’s family was required to pay rent for their farm land to the state. In 1941 or 1942, she returned to Vilmany because her parents wanted the family together. On March 19, 1944, German forces occupied Hungary. Shortly after, Hungarian soldiers went to each Jewish home in the village and made a list of inhabitants. A week later, Kato, her parents, her sister, and the 50 other Jewish residents of the village were gathered in the Catholic school. They were allowed to bring as many belongings as they could carry; Kato brought some food and a set of clothing. Kato was friends with a Catholic neighbor, Klara Oppel, and her family had agreed to safeguard some clothing and linens for the Ritters.…
identifier: irn42606
is or was included in: us-005578-irn40091
record resource extent: overall: Height: 5.750 inches (14.605 cm) | Width: 2.875 inches (7.303 cm) | Depth: 2.875 inches (7.303 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Silver-plated cup made in Peterswaldau slave labor camp where Kato (Ida) Ritter was a slave laborer from 1944-1945. She made timing devices for explosives. The timers would be placed in plastic covers attached to these decorative cups which held the explosives. People would want to pick up the cups, and removing the lid triggered an explosion. Kato was able to take one with her upon liberation. The cup was engraved in 1989 with a bible verse, her prisoner number, part of her name, place of birth, and the places and dates where she was imprisoned. Kato's husband, George, chose the Hebrew inscription,"Remember what Amalek did to you" from Deuteronomy:17, because Amalek attacked and killed the old and the weak just like the Nazis did. Nazi-controlled Germany occupied Hungary in March 1944, and one week later, 19-year-old Kato, her parents, David and Gizella, and her 17-year-old sister, Julianna, were deported from Vilmany to the Jewish ghetto in Košice, Czechoslovakia (now Košice, Slovakia). From there, they were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center, where everyone except Kato was gassed upon arrival. Kato was selected for forced labor, and sent to Peterswaldau. The camp was liberated by the Soviet Army on May 8, 1945. That summer, Kato returned to Vilmany.
title: Silver-plated cup made in a slave labor camp and later engraved with Kato Ritter's name