Rectangular suitcase with rounded corners, covered with plastic treated dark brown cloth. It has a fiberboard lid with a wooden frame and a wooden base connected by 2 hinges. Brown leather trim attached with white stitching circles the side edges, with 2 narrow corner brackets riveted over the leather trim at the lid edge and base edges. All the hardware is silver colored metal with a worn brass finish. There are 2 key lock hasps on the lid front and 2 keyhole lock plates on the base, with a sliding button that releases the hasp lock. There are 2 brackets riveted to the front base center containing the torn end sections of a brown leather handle. The interior has a thin board covered with dark red satiny cloth, now stained, inserted in the lid and base. A large gathered pocket is sewn to the lid. The exterior is scuffed and scratched.
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No restrictions on use
The suitcase was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012 by Ira and Kayla Zames.
Israel Znamirowski (later Ira Zames) was born on March 16, 1935, in Łódź, Poland, to Mendel and Chaja (Hela) Pik Znamirowski. Mendel was born on November 21, 1906, in Przedborz, to Izrael and Ruchla (Regina) Horowicz Znamirowski. Mendel was one of ten children from Izrael’s two marriages: Schlem, Issac, Eichel, Jala, Rifka, Lizer, Simca, Edel, and Paula. The family was Jewish and spoke Yiddish. Hela was born on December 11, 1910, in Łódź, to Chil and Sara Pik. From June 21, 1927, Mendel served as a private in the Polish Army. He was also a rabbinical student. Mendel and Hela married on March 11, 1930. The family lived in Łódź where Mendel was a merchant. On May 5, 1939, Mendel surrendered his military identification. In July, he and Hela sailed to New York on the SS Batory to see the World's Fair. Israel stayed with his paternal grandmother, Regina, at her home in Warsaw. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Israel’s maternal grandparents, Sara and Chil, retrieved Israel, bribed their way out of Poland, and went to Italy. Hela met them there to get Israel, traveling from New York, while Mendel remained. Israel had no passport or immigration paperwork so they could not obtain a visa. Hela had their family book, which registered family births, marriages, and deaths. She sent it to Krakow to be certified by the Generalgouvernement, the German administrative unit that controlled Poland. The book was certified on January 12, 1940, and returned to Hela. She had managed to secure passage to the United States, with the help of a ship captain who disregarded Israel’s lack of paperwork. On March 5, 1940, Hela and Israel boarded the SS Rex in Genoa, Italy and sailed to New York. They were detained on Ellis Island because Israel did not have proper immigration paperwork and the family book did not suffice. After several months, they were allowed to leave Ellis Island and stay in the US. The family settled in New York. The family Americanized their names to Martin, Helen, and Ira Zames. Mendel became a naturalized American citizen on June 9, 1947; Hela on June 30. Hela's parents, Sara and Chil, had gone from Italy to Palestine where they had property. Mendel’s brother, Simca, his wife Lenka, and their son George fled to Shanghai and immigrated to Montreal after the war. His sister, Paula, survived. Mendel's mother Regina died in the Warsaw Ghetto. Most of the extended family in Poland perished during the Holocaust. Ira married and had four sons. Martin, age 68, died in September 1974. Helen, age 99, died on November 14, 2010.
overall: Height: 13.250 inches (33.655 cm) | Width: 21.125 inches (53.658 cm) | Depth: 6.750 inches (17.145 cm)
Brown leather trimmed suitcase used by 5 year old Israel Znamirowski when he traveled to the US in March 1940 with his mother, Hela (Chaja). When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Israel was staying with his paternal grandmother, Regina Znamirowska, in Warsaw, Poland, because his parents, Mendel and Hela, were on vacation in the US. Following the invasion, Israel’s maternal grandparents, Chil and Sarah Pik, took him to Italy. Hela met them in Italy and was able to secure passage back to New York, with the help of a ship captain who ignored Israel’s lack of proper immigration paperwork. Because Israel lacked documents, they were detained on Ellis Island for several months before being allowed to join Mendel in New York. Sarah and Chil immigrated to Palestine. Nearly all the large extended family in Poland perished during the Holocaust.
Brown cloth and leather trimmed suitcase used by a young Polish Jewish boy