us-005578-irn47292-irn531151
type: RecordSet
archival history: The knife was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2008 by Nellie Fink, the granddaughter of Ernestine Wiesenthal.
biographical history: Ernestine Unger (1873-1947, later Wiesenthal) was born in Berlin, Germany, into a Jewish family that had lived in the city for generations. She married Otto Wiesenthal (1859-1930) on February 15, 1891. Otto was a physician, as was his father. Their son, Fritz (1893-?), would become a doctor as well. They had one daughter, Helene (1892-?, later Meyer). Ernestine’s family was assimilated and lived a comfortable middle-class life. Her daughter married Edgar Meyer (1893-1963) and they had three children: Eva (b.1927), Peter (b. 1930, and Angelika (?-1938). Ernestine’s son married Gertrude Loewenberg (1898-1986) on May 15, 1920, and they had two daughters: Illa (b. 1921, later Ilse) and Nellie (b.1930, later Fink). Ernestine often cared for her granddaughters because Gertrude suffered from an obsessive compulsive neurosis. She feared that she might get her children sick, often thinking she was carrying diseases like polio, meningitis and scarlet fever. This condition controlled much of Gertrude’s life, so she was often away in sanatoriums, living apart from the family much of the time due to her condition. Ernestine’s husband, Otto, died in November 1930. In 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor, and by that spring, anti-Jewish legislation was in effect. In 1935, as the Nuremberg race laws were passed and life for Jews in Germany became extremely precarious, Ernestine and her son, Fritz, took a trip to Palestine in search of a safe place to live. Eventually, Fritz decided that it would be better to go to the United States because there were already a few of his wife’s relatives living there. Ernestine’s granddaughter, Illa, was sent to a boarding school in England. In 1936, Ernestine’s granddaughter, Nellie, came to live with her because the Jewish school she now had to attend was close to her home. Eventually, Jews were no longer able to practice medicine in Germany, and Fritz had to seriously consider emigration. He began making plans to go to the US, and find out if h…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Heavy dinner knife with a wide, flat metal blade and a plain, banded bolster connecting it to a hollow silver-colored handle with rounded sides. The blade is a New French style with a curved surface along the upper and lower edges, as well as an indentation in the lower edge where it connects to the bolster. The bolster consists of a thick, smooth band above a thin, oval-shaped disc with straight sides, and two more plain bands beneath the disc. The lower bands are at the top of the handle, which widens slightly as it extends out to the rounded end. The handle’s sides are plain and engraved with a thread design, a continuous set of parallel incised lines, along the edges, which incorporate a small triangle, or pip, at the end. A monogram with three initials is engraved in ornate, Fraktur-style font at the end of the handle. The handle is heavy and likely contains clay, a common practice for filling hollow handles. The lower edge, or blade, is dull, and there are scratches throughout. There is some discoloration on the front handle, and there are several black stains on the back of the blade. front, end of handle, engraved : E. F. U.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1939-01-01
has end date: 1939-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn531151
is or was included in: us-005578-irn47292
record resource extent: overall: Height: 10.500 inches (26.67 cm) | Width: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm) | Depth: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Dinner knife engraved with Ernestine Unger Wiesenthal’s initials and taken with her when she emigrated from Berlin, Germany, to London, England in 1939. The threaded design and script used for the initials match another knife from the same donor (2008.204.5), in addition to a ladle (.4) in that collection as well. The knife handle is likely made of silver, though it does not bear any marks to verify that. On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany. Following the passage of the Nuremberg laws in 1935, Ernestine’s son, Fritz, began looking for places where the family could immigrate as life became increasingly difficult for German Jews. Later that year, Fritz, a doctor, and his wife, Gertrude, sent their daughter, Illa, to boarding school in England. When their daughter, Nellie, was no longer allowed to attend public school, she moved into Ernestine’s home and attended a local Jewish school. Eventually, Jews were no longer able to practice medicine, and the family needed to emigrate. In 1938, Fritz left for the US in order to begin studying for the medical boards he needed to pass in order to practice medicine. He sent for Illa in August 1938. Nellie arrived in January 1939, and Gertrude arrived in March. Once in London, Ernestine spent her time knitting for the Red Cross. In the fall of 1942, she traveled to the US aboard a freighter in a Greek convoy.
title: Monogrammed dinner knife brought with a German Jewish prewar refugee