us-005578-irn513943
type: RecordSet
archival history: The hat was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003 by Lillyan Rosenberg.
biographical history: Lilly Cohn (later Rosenberg) was born on January 30, 1928, in Halberstadt, Germany, to Ernst and Margarete Marcuse Cohn. Ernst was born on December 4, 1886, to Hugo and Selma Lusch Cohn, in Halberstadt where his family had lived for more than 300 years. Margarete was born on April 4, 1896, in Stargard, Germany (Stargard, Poland), to Eugen and Hedwig Samuel Marcuse. Ernst owned a linen factory and store, which he took over from his father. Margarete was a painter. Lilly’s family lived comfortably in an apartment above the store and had a maid. Her paternal grandfather, Hugo, owned the building and lived in an apartment above Lilly’s family. Lilly had one older brother, Werner, born on June 13, 1922, in Halberstadt. Lilly’s Orthodox family was active in the town’s large Jewish community and attended synagogue regularly. The Nazi regime, which came to power in 1933, actively persecuted the Jewish population. In 1935, Lilly started attending Jewish school, where she learned Hebrew. Lilly’s paternal aunt Lucy Spier and her husband immigrated to Manchester, England. By 1938, signs barring Jews were placed in German stores and children threw stones at Lilly and her Jewish classmates. Authorities came to the Cohn family’s home and took many valuables. Lilly’s father, Ernst, was forced to turn his business over to a non-Jew. He saved some linens and travelled around the countryside selling them to long-time customers. On November 9 or 10, 1938, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, two SS officers arrested Lilly’s father. Lilly was scared and did not understand what was happening. Her mother told her brother, Werner, 15, to hide in a closet. The officers returned, looking for the other Mr. Cohn, meaning Werner. Her mother lied and said the only other Mr. Cohn was her father-in-law Hugo. The men did not believe her, but left. Lilly’s mother learned that Ernst had been taken to Buchenwald concentration camp, where he was assigned prisoner number 23954. Five weeks later, Ernst was r…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Child's dark blue felt hat with a conical center with a dimpled, round top point and an upturned brim trimmed with a narrow, faded orange ribbon. A black ribbon band is sewn to the crown interior. A broken black elastic string, likely a chin strap, is attached to both sides of the hat, beneath the band.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
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: irn513943
record resource extent: overall: Height: 5.125 inches (13.018 cm) | Width: 10.250 inches (26.035 cm) | Depth: 11.250 inches (28.575 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Blue felt hat worn by 11 year old Lilly Cohn when her parents, Margarete and Ernst, sent her from Halberstadt, Germany, to Rochdale, England, in July 1939, on the Kindertransport [Children’s Transport]. Lilly wears the hat in photographs in the collection taken with her parents and older brother Werner at the train station. During the Kristallnacht pogrom on November 9-10, 1938, Lilly’s father Ernst was arrested and send to Buchenwald concentration camp. He was released after 5 weeks and the family began preparing to leave. Lilly and Werner were registered for the Kindertransport. In July, the Allen family agreed to foster Lilly and she left for England. On September 2, Werner arrived, but lived separately. In June 1942, Lilly got her last letter from her parents, written in April, telling her that they were being deported to Poland. The war ended in May 1945. Lilly and Werner later learned that their parents perished in the Warsaw ghetto.
title: Blue felt hat worn by a German Jewish girl on the Kindertransport