us-005578-irn47133-irn530312
scope and content: White linen tablecloth used by Shimon Beer's family in prewar Brno, Czechoslovakia. It was one of several tablecloths, 2012.342.6-11, preserved by his aunt Bertl in Great Britain. Brno was annexed and occupied by Nazi Germany in March 1939. Shimon, 19, left in December 1939 for Palestine, where he joined the Jewish Brigade of the British Army. His parents, Julius and Hildegarde, were deported to Theresienstadt ghetto-labor, and then to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where they were murdered. His brother Pavel survived both camps.
type: RecordSet
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn47133-irn530312/acquisitions/1
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn47133-irn530312/alternateIDs/1
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
identifier: irn530312
has or had holder: us-005578
is or was included in: us-005578-irn47133
record resource extent: overall: | Diameter: 33.000 inches (83.82 cm)
archival history: The tablecloth was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015 by Maud Michal Stecklmacher Beer, the wife of Shimon Beer.
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…
has record set type: Item
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Circular, white cotton tablecloth with lace details.
title: Circular white tablecloth saved by a by Czech Jewish refugee
conditions of access: No restrictions on access