us-005578-irn41486-irn42514
type: RecordSet
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: Circular, gold colored metal coin with a grooved rim on both sides. The obverse has an embossed left profile portrait bust of Czar Nicholas II with short hair and a beard with Russian Cyrillic text along the rim. The reverse has the Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire: a crowned double-headed eagle facing outwards with open wings and an emblem on its chest, holding a scepter and orb. The denomination, 5, and year, 1898, are below. There is incuse lettering around the edge with the mintmaster’s initials in Cyrillic.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1898-01-01
has beginning date: 1942-01-01
has end date: 1944-12-31
has end date: 1898-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: rus
has record set type: Item
history: Henikel (Henach) Minuskin was born on July 22, 1938, to Shlamke, born on March 12, 1905, and Shanke Orlinsky Minuskin, born on September 17, 1914. He had one brother, Kalmanke, born on August 17, 1940. All of the family members were born in Zhetel, Poland (Dziatlava, Belarus). They lived in a home built by his father and his four brothers. Shlamke owned a bus transportation business. Shanke was trained as a hairdresser and manicurist. On September 17, 1939, the Soviets invaded and occupied eastern Poland, and Zhetel came under Soviet control. Shortly after the invasion, Shlamke prepared a secret hiding place under the outhouse in the backyard. On June 30, 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union and occupied Zhetel. The persecution of Jews became increasingly violent and on July 23, 1941, German mobile killing units murdered about 120 prominent members of the Jewish community, including Harold’s maternal uncle, Leib Orlinsky. On February 22, 1942, the Germans put up posters ordering all Jews to move into the ghetto which was established in the area where Harold’s family lived. They had to share their home with several others. On August 6, 1942, the Germans began the final liquidation of the ghetto. Shlamke was rounded up during the massacre and locked with hundreds of others in the synagogue. He was able to hide in the rafters in the midst of the confusion. After two days, he escaped into the Belorussian forest and joined the Jewish partisan resistance. During this time, Henik, Kalmanke, Sonia, and eight others hid in the underground hiding place. After three days, Shanke decided to flee with her sons to the nearby forest. Harold’s grandmother, Rivka Orlinsky, suffered from poor eyesight, so an aunt remained behind with her. Both were captured by the Germans and shot and killed the following day. Shanke and the boys received shelter and food from some peasants and farmers that Shanke knew, but many were afraid of the Germans and would not help. They slept in ditches a…
history: The Imperial Russian coin was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2010 by Harold Minuskin, the son of Sonia Minuskin.
identifier: irn42514
is or was included in: us-005578-irn41486
record resource extent: overall: | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm) | Diameter: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: 5 ruble gold coin hidden by Shanke Minuskin when she and her family lived with partisans in the Lipichanski forest in Poland (Bialowieza Forest (Poland and Belarus) from 1942-1944. The coins were used to bargain for food, clothing, and weapons from the local peasants; if the currency was not accepted, force often was used instead. Shanke, her husband, Shlamke, her sons, 3 year old Henikel and 1 year old Kalmanke, fled Zhetel, Poland, shortly after it was occupied by Germany in June 1941. Shlamke escaped to the Belorussian forest where he joined a group of partisan fighters. Shanke and the children fled a few days later. They were hiding in a root cellar near the forest when Shlamke found them. He participated in the guerrilla action against the Germans while Shanke repaired and sewed clothing. The area was liberated by the Soviet Army in September 1944. When the war ended in May 1945, the family went to the Zeilsheim displaced persons camp in Germany and then emigrated to the United States in September 1946.
title: Imperial Russia, gold 5 ruble coin saved by a Jewish Polish family living with partisans