The boots were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2002 by Judis Urbanova.
Judis Baehr (now Urbanova) was born on October 2, 1940, in Berlin, Germany. Her mother, who was Jewish and possibly named Mimi, died six days after her birth from unknown causes. Her father, possibly named Alfred, had no involvement with the child and nothing is known about his background or his relationship with Judis’s mother. Judis was taken in by her mother's sister, Regina Heitmann, and her husband Hans, who was not Jewish. Hitler and the Nazi Party dictatorship had controlled Germany since 1933. The government pursued a harsh anti-Jewish policy from the start, and by 1942, it was too dangerous for Regina to keep the child at home. Judis was placed in hiding in a Jewish nursing home for the elderly in Oranienburg. On May 28, 1943, nearly three-year-old Judis was deported from a Jewish children’s home in Oranienburg to Theresienstadt ghetto/labor camp in German occupied Czechoslovakia. When the train arrived at the station in Celle, which was a few miles from the camp, Judis was left on the train. She was discovered in the corner of a car under a blanket by a man she remembers as Mr. Winterstein, but may been named Jermarov, a young Jew who worked on the station platform. Winterstein brought Judis to the camp ghetto where he and Elizabete (Elly) Winterstein Jermarova adopted her. Elly, possibly born in Uhersky Brod, Czechoslovakia, on November 19, 1921, was deported from Prague and incarcerated in Theresienstadt since December 1941. As Judis grew, Elly, her “Meine Pflege Mutter” [nurturing or taking-care-of-me mother] found a pair of ankle boots for her. They were too big and had to be stuffed with newspaper at first. In 1943 or 1944, Mr. Winterstein was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp and presumably killed. Elly may have been deported to Auschwitz as well, though according to one record, she may have remained in the camp until it was liberated on May 5. Judis was in the camp when it was liberated the first week of May 1945. As she remembers it, she and Elly were separated in the ghetto, but reunited after the war in Prague when Elly returned from Auschwitz. After liberation, Judis and Elizabete were together in Prague. Judis’s Aunt Regina, still In Berlin, wanted to take Judis back, but Elly would not relinquish her. She kept her and raised her as her own. It was not until Judis was fifteen that she was told of her mother’s death so soon after her birth. Elizabete married Frantisek Leiner, born November 29, 1917, who had also been a prisoner in Theresienstadt. They settled in Czechoslovakia. Judis later married Frantisek Urban and the couple had a daughter. Georg Weiss was born on August 12, 1935, possibly in Brno, Czechoslovakia. The region was occupied by Nazi Germany in March 1939. Georg was deported from Brno in 1942 to Thereseinstadt ghetto/labor camp north of Prague. On October 19, 1944, he was transported to Auschwitz concentration camp and presumably murdered.
a. Extremely well-worn child's right lace-up leather ankle boot with a once white, now grayish, upper lacing vamp double stitched to a black patent leather lower quarter with a rounded toe cap. A rectangular black leather tab is sewn to the back seam. A black cloth shoelace is inserted through the 7 sets of hidden metal eyelets. The double layered leather sole has an added partial rubber sole nailed to the ball and toe area; it is detached in some spots. The stacked heel is worn and uneven with an added rubber heel nailed on with many nails. These repairs were done in the Thersesienstadt ghetto. The interior is lined with offwhite cloth and the brown cloth insole is torn and darkly stained. Numbers and a name are handwritten on the interior ankle. There are brown cloth remnants on the sole. The leather is creased, scuffed, and flaking, the finish is worn off the black patent leather, and worn through in areas around the ankles where the lining is visible. b. Extremely well-worn child's left lace-up leather ankle boot with a once white, now grayish, upper lacing vamp double stitched to a black patent leather lower quarter with a rounded toe cap. A rectangular black leather tab is sewn to the back seam and the interior seam is reinforced with a strip of brown leather. A black ribbon shoelace is inserted through the 7 sets of hidden metal eyelets. The double layered leather sole has an added partial rubber sole nailed to the ball and toe area. The stacked heel is worn and uneven with an added rubber heel nailed on with many nails. These repairs were done in the Thersesienstadt ghetto. The interior is lined with offwhite cloth and the brown cloth insole is torn and darkly stained. Numbers and a name are handwritten on the interior ankle. There are brown cloth remnants on the sole. The leather is creased, scuffed, and flaking and the finish is worn off the black patent leather. a. interior, upper left, stamped, black ink : 9 637077 28 a. interior, upper right, handwritten, blue ink : WEISS / GEORG / B[l]858 / [?]50 b. interior, upper left, stamped, black ink : 9 6370[ll?] b. interior, upper right, handwritten, blue ink : WEISS / GEORG / Bl85[?]
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a: Height: 7.635 inches (19.393 cm) | Width: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm) | Depth: 4.375 inches (11.113 cm) b: Height: 7.375 inches (18.733 cm) | Width: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm) | Depth: 4.625 inches (11.747 cm)
Child's heavily used black patent and white leather ankle boots worn by 3 year old Judis Baehr while she was imprisoned in Theresienstadt ghetto/labor camp from 1943-1945. The already used boots were obtained by Elly Winterstein who adopted Judis at the camp. They were too big at first and had to be stuffed with newspaper and the heels and soles repaired with nails, but Judis wore them until after liberation. The boots are inscribed with the name Georg Weiss. A 7 year old child by that name arrived in the camp in 1942 and was deported to Auschwitz in October 1944. Judis was born in October 1940 to a Jewish mother who died six days after her birth in Berlin, Germany. Her mother's sister, Regina Heitmann, and her non-Jewish husband Hans took the infant into their home. The Nazi dictatorship had pursued punitive anti-Jewish policies since 1933 and, by 1942, it was too dangerous for Regina to keep the toddler. Judis was placed in hiding in a nursing home in Oranienburg. On May 28, 1943, Judis was transported to Theresienstadt in German occupied Czechoslovakia. When the prisoners disembarked at the train station, Judis was left behind. She was found under a blanket by Mr. Winterstein (Jermanov?), a prisoner who worked at the station. He took her to the camp and he and his wife Elly adopted her. In 1943 or 1944, her adoptive father was deported to Auschwitz and presumed murdered. Elly may have been deported as well, but some records place her at Terezin during liberation on May 5, 1945. As Judis remembers, she and Elly were separated in Theresienstadt but reunited in Prague after the war ended on May 7 and Elly returned from Poland. Judis's Aunt Regina wanted Judis returned to her in Berlin, but Elly refused and raised Judis as her own child.
Pair of toddler's well used black and white leather lace-up boots worn in Theresienstadt ghetto/labor camp