The commemorative button cover was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Margaret Velard, the daughter of Frances and Julian Hirshfeld, and agent for the Estate of Frances Hirshfeld, the wife of Julian Hirshfeld.
Franka (Frances) Mariam Rosenblum was born in Opatow Kieliecki, (Wojewowldztwo Swietokryzskie) Poland, on July 26, 1918, to Meyer and Gabriella (Malka) Wajman Rosenblum. Her father died before she was born. In 1924, she and her mother moved to Sosnowiec. Her mother had nine siblings and mother and daughter next went to live with the Sojka's, an uncle's family in Zawiercie. When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, the Sojka's fled east to Russian territory, but it was winter and conditions were very harsh. Franka smuggled herself back to the German occupied area and found that nothing remained: homes and property had been confiscated. She was unable to get back into the Russian sector, but her family returned to the Zawiercie ghetto. Franka worked as forced labor in the steel mill, and became involved in the resistance. On August 26, 1943, Franka was deported by the German authorities to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Upon arrival, she was stripped naked, had her head shaved, was given dirty, lice infested rags to wear, and tattooed with the number 56362. If she asked a question, she was slapped until her teeth shook. They slept six to a bunk in a stable with three layers of bunks. They worked all the time, some just carrying heavy rocks back and forth. They got ersatz coffee and a small piece of bread in the morning and evening, and dirty, watery soup during the day. If you washed your clothes, you had to sleep in them wet. Trains arrived all the time from across Europe, unloaded by men called zondercommandos, who were given the choice of helping to unload the trains or going to the ovens alive. She learned about the Warsaw Uprising from other camp inmates who had been sent to the camp from there. Franka worked first in a hospital zone crowded with people dying from starvation and disease, then in a Krupp ammunition factory. She was moved from Auschwitz to Birkenau where she lived near the place where medical experiments were conducted. One day, a Belgian girl was caught trying to escape. All the inmates were called to see her execution by hanging; someone slipped her a razor blade and she cut her wrists to escape the gallows. Beginning in January 1945, Franka was taken on a series of death marches to Malkov, Ravensbrück, and Leipzig; near Dresden, around April, she escaped and the area was soon liberated. She learned that her mother, all nine of her mother’s siblings, and her grandparents had perished. Franka was relocated to France where she met Julian Hirshfeld, a textile engineer and survivor of Auschwitz and many other concentration camps whose wfie and child had been murdered in a German camp. They had known each other before the war in the ghetto. They married in Brussels, Belgium, on September 26, 1946. In October, with the help of an uncle in Jacksonville, Florida, Franka emigrated to the United States with their infant daughter. Julian arrived in the US in 1949. They settled in Decatur, Alabama, and had another daughter and a son. Both she and her husband spoke about their experiences to many groups, because they believed that"Whatever is written...is not enough" Julian, 72, died in 1981. Frances, 80, passed away in 1999. Julian J. Hirshfeld was born in Łódź, Poland, on January 20, 1907, to a Jewish couple, Moshe and Fajga (Fannie) Levinsohn. He was a textile engineer, and received his doctorate in chemistry from Strasbourg University in France, before the war. He married Hela Magazyne, who was born in Warsaw, on May 31, 1908, to Leon and Fela. Julian and Hela had one daughter, Fryda, born in Łódź on March 12, 1932. Not long after the Germans occupied Poland in September 1939, all the Jews in Łódź were forced into a small, closed ghetto. In January 1942, the Germans began large scale deportations of the ghetto residents to killing centers. Julian's wife and 10 year old daughter were deported from Łódź Ghetto and killed in Auschwitz: Fryda in 1942; Hela in 1943. Julian was imprisoned at Birkenau, Auschwitz, Goleshau, and Buchenwald concentration camps. His left arm was tattooed with the number 157668 at Auschwitz. The Germans used his skills as a chemist at various textile plants and he believes this is why he survived. Julian was liberated from Buchenwald on April 11, 1945, and remembers being found and helped by an American GI. He was relocated to a Red Cross camp in Paris, France, run from the Hotel Lutetia. He encountered Franka Rosenblum, whom he knew before and during the war. Franka had been sent from Zawiercie ghetto to Birkenau, Auschwitz, Malhof (Malkov), Ravensbrueck, and liberated after escaping a death march near Leipzig in April 1945. The couple married in Belgium on September 21, 1946. At the end of 1946, Franka and their infant daughter left for America. Julian followed in 1949 and they settled in Decatur, Alabama. Julian, 74, passed away in 1981.
Shield-shaped, gold colored metal button cover with blue and white enamel stripes. In the center is an inverted red enamel triangle with a gold F at the point and gold barbed wire running diagonally across the center. Above the triangle is a gold rectangle with blue numbers. The back has a crescent shaped button attached in the middle.
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overall: Height: 0.625 inches (1.588 cm) | Width: 0.625 inches (1.588 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm)
Button cover with number 178284 given to Julian Hirshfeld when he was a displaced person in Paris, where he was sent after his liberation from Buchenwald by US troops on April 11, 1945. The pin was issued by the Federation Nationale des deportes Internes resistants Patriotes (FNDIRP) in April 1945 to honor the memory of Charles Oschkor, 178284 was his prisoner number. Oschkor was a former kapo of Blechhammer concentration camp who sacrificed himself to save other prisoners. Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany in September 1939. Julian, a Jewish textile engineer, was interned in Łódź Ghetto in November 1940. When it was closed in 1943, he was transferred to Birkenau, Auschwitz, Goleshau, and Buchenwald concentration camps. His wife Hela and daughter Fryda, 11, were deported from Łódź and killed in Auschwitz. Julian's skills as a textile chemist were useful to the Germans and he was sent to various textile plants. He believes this is why he survived. After being freed, Julian was sent to the Red Cross camp run from the Hotel Lutetia in Paris. On September 21, 1946, Julian married Franka Rosenblum, whom he had known before and during the war. Franka was interned in the Zawiercie ghetto until 1943 when she was sent to Auschwitz, Birkenau, Marhof, and Ravensbrück. She escaped during a death march and was liberated in April 1945. Her entire family was killed. At the end of 1946, Franka and their infant daughter left for America. Julian followed in 1949.
Commemorative FNDIRP button cover engraved 178284 acquired by a Jewish Polish refugee