us-005578-irn42290-irn47255
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
title: Blue dotted white handkerchief received by Kindertransport refugee
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn42290-irn47255/alternateIDs/1
scope and content: Silk handkerchief with blue dots, embroidered Ruth, sent to Ruth Mondschein for her 11th birthday by Marie, the family's housekeeper in Vienna. Ruth was living in the Netherlands where her parents had sent her on a Kindertransport [Children's Transport] from Austria on December 10, 1938. Her father, Markus, and Marie were arrested at the family's home on Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938. Marie, who was not Jewish, was quickly released. Markus was sent to Dachau concentration camp. He was released on the condition that he leave the country. He arranged for Ruth and her brother, Walter, 6, to escape on the first Kindertransport to the Netherlands. The children later were sent to an aunt in the United States, arriving on October 26, 1939. Ruth's parents emigrated on November 17, and the family settled in New York.
archival history: The embroidered handkerchief was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Ruth Mondschein Zimbler in 2011.
date: 1939 February 22
has or had holder: us-005578
biographical history: Ruth Mondschein was born on February 22, 1928, in Vienna, Austria, to Hene Libe (Hella) and Markus Bloch Zimbler. Ruth’s younger brother, Walter, was born in 1932. Hella was born on September 4, 1896, in Brody, Poland (Ukraine), to Chaya Rachel Bloch. She had an older sister, Mindl,who lived in Brody with her daughter. Markus was born on October 12, 1890, in Kalusz, Poland (Ukraine). He had three brothers: Max, Solomon, and Jacob; one brother lived in Vienna with his wife and child; another lived with his family in Krakow, Poland. Markus had been a prisoner of war in Siberia during World War I (1914-1918) but was released due to the Russian Revolution in 1917. The couple married on March 22, 1925. Hella was a well-known dressmaker, specializing in white goods sewing for wedding trousseaus. Markus had been a mechanical engineer working on locomotives, but lost his job in 1930 because if the decreased demand for trains. Hella had many good connections in the Jewish community from her work and Markus now worked in social services for the Jewish Community in Vienna. They were an observant Jewish family and kept kosher. Markus’s job included an apartment one of the two buildings adjacent to the largest synagogue in the city on Temple Street. Ruth went to public school, but attended Hebrew school in the afternoon. The family spent their summer vacations in the Austrian Alps. On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria and annexed the country. Ruth could see the synagogue from their house and saw what happened after vandals threw a smoke bomb into the second floor women’s gallery.. A female American journalist came to the house and Hella showed her the damage. The journalist said she would write about it, but nobody would believe it. The library of the Theological Seminary was housed in their building and one day a German SS lieutenant colonel, came to their apartment to get the keys. He said that he was selecting the most precious manuscripts for a future museum…
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
record resource extent: overall: Height: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) | Width: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm)
identifier: irn47255
type: RecordSet
is or was included in: us-005578-irn42290
has record set type: Item
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Rectangular, white, sheer silk handkerchief printed with small blue dots and finished edges with light green thread. The name RUTH is underlined and embroidered in blue thread at an angle in the lower right corner. There are 4 circular brown stains resembling cigarette burns near the top of each quadrant. The stains may have aligned when the cloth was folded along the creases. front, lower right corner, embroidered, blue thread : RUTH
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn42290-irn47255/acquisitions/1