us-005578-irn47133-irn530309
date: before 1942 July, 1945 May
has or had holder: us-005578
is or was included in: us-005578-irn47133
biographical history: Maud Klotilde Stecklmacher was born on April 7, 1929, in Prostejov, Moravia, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic), to Friedrich (Fritz ) Bedrich and Käthe Steiner Stecklmacher. Fritz was born on December 7, 1898, in Prossnitz to Jakub and Klotilde Stecklmacher. Fritz owned a clothing store and a wholesale business founded by his father that supplied accessories like buttons, buckles, and thread to local garment factories. Frtiz had four brothers, Emil, who died in childhood, Bruno, killed in WWI, Arthur, an architect in Prague, and Otto, who worked in the business in Prostejov. Käthe was born on March 26, 1908, the only daughter of Max and Steffi Steiner, owners of a wholsesale leathers goods and custom shoe business in Prostejov. Max’s brother, Josef, also worked in the family business. Josef was a widower, with a son, Gustav, born on December 29, 1925. Josef's and Max lived above the store with thier families. Fritz and Käthe married on March 25, 1928. Maud’s sister, Karmela, was born March 1, 1934. The families were very close, but not especially religious, attending temple only on Jewish High Holidays. But they were ardent Zionists: Fritz and Max belonged to Bnai Brith, Käthe and her mother belonged to the Zionist women’s organization WIZO and the children belonged to a Zionist youth organization, Tchelet-Lavan (Blue-White), and Maccabi sports club. They were affluent, assimilated German speakers. The sisters had live-in nannies and attended a public school with few other Jewish students. In September 1938, Nazi Germany annexed the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia and on March 15, 1939, occupied Bohemia and Moravia where Prostejov was located. The occupation brought an increasing series of anti-Jewish repressions. Jews were not allowed to use public facilities, such as movies and parks, and in 1940, Jewish children could no longer attend public schools. The Jewish community offered classes in different homes, but by September 1941, Maud and Karmela were tutored a…
archival history: The pillowcase was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015 by Maud Michal Stecklmacher Beer.
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn47133-irn530309/acquisitions/1
type: RecordSet
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Rectangular, white linen pillow case with lace details on 3 sides and a button closure on the bottom edge.
record resource extent: overall: Height: 29.000 inches (73.66 cm) | Width: 38.000 inches (96.52 cm)
scope and content: Pillowcase originally from the home of Josef Steiner that was returned to Maud Stecklmacher, his maternal great niece, after the war by their non-Jewish neighbors Muzikant and Sevcik to whom he had entrusted it before his July 1942 deportation from Prostejov, Czechoslovakia. It was one of several linens saved and recovered (2005.342.5). Prostejov was annexed and occupied by Nazi Germany in March 1939. On July 2, 1942, Maud, 13, her parents Fritz and Käthe, her sister Karmela, 8, her grandparents Max and Steffi Steiner, and Josef and his son Gustav, 16, were sent to Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp. On July 28, Gustav, 16, and Josef were sent to Baranowicze, Poland, where they were murdered upon arrival. Max died on September 17. Fritz committed suicide on May 30, 1943. Käthe was assigned to the glimmer factory, splitting mineral mica into flakes used for electrical insulation. Mica was essential to the German war effort, so she and her immediate family were protected temporarily from deportation to camps further east. Steffi was deported to Auschwitz and murdered in October 1944. Theresienstadt was liberated by Soviet troops on May 9, 1945. Käthe, Maud, and Karmela returned to Prostejov. They left for Israel in March 1949.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
title: White lace pillowcase returned to Czech Jewish concentration camp inmates postwar
has record set type: Item
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn47133-irn530309/alternateIDs/1
identifier: irn530309