us-005578-irn47538-irn73099
type: RecordSet
archival history: The tefillin and pouch were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012 by Irma Cohn Clemens, the great-niece of Leo Nast.
biographical history: Leo Nast was born on October 3, 1885, in Schulitz, Germany. He had a sister, Frederica, and the family was Jewish. He attended Heidelberg University and studied chemistry. He became interested in the production of plastics and, at the age of twenty, received a patent for the creation of his first plastic. Leo received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1912 and became a chemical engineer. He moved to Cologne and worked at a plastics factory. During World War I (1914-1918), he served in intelligence for the German Army. Leo married Berte (Bertha) Kautz, who was born in 1889 in Cologne. After the war, Leo moved to Hamburg to work at the Triton Works company. In January 1933, Hitler came to power in Germany. Anti-Jewish laws were enacted to disenfranchise Jewish people. Leo and Bertha decided to leave Germany. The Catalin Corporation of America wished to hire Leo and sponsored their immigration visas. They left London on board the SS Manhattan and arrived in New York on July 14, 1934. Leo worked for the Catalin Corp. in New Jersey. In 1935, he helped found the Superlithe Corporation in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In 1936, Leo became the vice president, treasurer, and technical director at the Universal Plastics Corporation in New Brunswick. During the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 9-10, 1938, Jewish synagogues and businesses all over Germany were vandalized and there were mass arrests of Jewish males. In 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Leo wished to get his sister, Frederica, out of Germany. He needed to be a US citizen to sponsor her, but was a few months short of the five year minimum residency required to apply for American citizenship. Leo applied anyway, explaining his family circumstances. With the help of the governor of New Jersey, he was able to obtain her visa and she arrived in the US in 1939. Leo and Bertha became naturalized American citizens that year. In 1940, Leo sponsored the emigration of Frederica’s daughter Johanna Cohn, her husband Arthur, and eighteen year…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: a. Head tefillin, a small square box (batim) constructed of four black-painted leather strips centered on a square, black painted, five-layered platform sewn together with giddin, gut from kosher animals. The left and right box sides have an embossed Hebrew letter, Shin; the left Shin has four strokes.The box is to contain four separate pieces of parchment scrolls inscribed with a Torah verse. The platform has a triangular, notched lower end with an opening for a strap to pass through. The long leather strap has an unfinished underside, a single knot, and is wrapped around the box for storage. b. Hand tefillin, a small, square box (batim) constructed of four black-painted leather strips centered on a square, black painted five-layered platform sewn together with giddin, gut from kosher animals. The left and right box sides have an embossed Hebrew Shin letter; the left Shin has four strokes. The box is to contain four separate pieces parchment scrolls inscribed with a Torah verse. The platform has a triangular, notched lower end with an opening for a strap to pass through. The long leather strap has an unfinished underside, a single knot, and is wrapped in a coil. c. Small, dark red velvet, rectangular pouch with a dark red drawstring, and a red cloth pompom inserted through a channel near the top opening. Two Stars of David, one within the other, made of yellow thread wrapped in blue thread, are stitched on the front center with yellow thread. Within the stars, a Hebrew year is satin-stitched in light yellow thread. The back has a wrapped-stitched design of the Ten Commandments: two tablets with roman numerals 1-5 on the left, and 6-10 on the right. The design is detached in several places. The pouch is lined with light brown cloth. c. front center, embroidered: 5659 [Hebrew year for 1899]
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1934 July
has beginning date: 1899-01-01
has end date: 1899-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: heb
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn73099
is or was included in: us-005578-irn47538
record resource extent: a: Height: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm) | Width: 2.375 inches (6.033 cm) | Depth: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm) b: Height: 5.500 inches (13.97 cm) | Width: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm) | Depth: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm) c: Height: 5.875 inches (14.923 cm) | Width: 3.375 inches (8.573 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Pair of tefillin with a burgundy velvet storage pouch used by Dr. Leo Nast, a chemical engineer who left Hamburg, Germany, for the United States in July 1934. Tefillin are small boxes with leather straps used by Orthodox Jewish males during morning prayers. Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933. Leo had long opposed the politics of Hitler and the Nazi Party and Leo and his wife Bertha decided to leave Germany. Their immigration was sponsored by the Catalin Corporation, a plastics company that employed Leo after his arrival in the US. The Nazi dictatorship enacted anti-Jewish laws and the persecution of Jews grew increasingly harsh. In 1939, Leo arranged for his mother, Frederica, to come to the US. In May 1940, he sponsored the immigration of his niece, Johanna Cohn, her husband Arthur, and their 18 year old daughter Irma, from Breslau, Germany.
title: Tefillin set with a dark red velvet pouch used by a prewar German Jewish emigre