us-005578-irn514208-irn514351
type: RecordSet
archival history: The prisoner badge was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003 by David Winchester.
biographical history: David Wincygster was born on May 1, 1924, in Ostrowiec, Poland, to Shmuel Gershon and Chana Grafstein Wincygster. Shmuel was born ca. 1900 in Slupia, Imperial Russia, (later Poland), to Golda and Alter Wincygster. Chana was born in 1902 in Ostrowiec to Hershel and Golda Grafstein. Shmuel was a furrier and owned his own shop. David’s family was middle class and lived in his paternal grandmother’s house. David had five siblings: Sheindel b. 1919; Esther b. 1920; Hershel b. 1922; Sarah b. 1926; and Chaya b. 1928. David’s maternal aunt Henia Kestenbaum, husband Alter, and sons, Hershel and Mier, and David’s uncle Fishel Wincygster also lived with them. Both uncles worked in Shmuel’s furrier shop. The family was very religious and his father was a Zionist. David attended the Mizrachi School through fourth grade and then the local Polish school. After two years of increasing antisemitism at the school, David left and continued his studies with a Rabbi. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and occupied Ostrowiec one week later. Troops and locals ransacked Jewish homes and businesses, raped women, and killed leading members of the community. German authorities established a curfew for Jews, demanded money, and formed a labor department. In October, Jews were required to wear Star of David armbands. Forced labor was mandatory for all who could work and getting a work card was essential. David worked for the Arbeitsamt, a type of labor agency, and was sent out to different jobs. In 1940, David’s sister Sheindel married Mr. Bliman. In April 1941, the Germans established a ghetto. David’s family stayed in their house because it was on the ghetto border. In May, there was a typhus outbreak and David’s father Shmuel got very sick. The family paid for a nurse and he recovered. David and his brother Hershel were selected for forced labor at an iron factory. His sister Sheindel was a cleaning woman for the Schutzpolizei and Esther worked at a clothing factory. In summer 1942…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Unevenly cut, well worn, rectangular, light brown cotton patch with a painted yellow bar over an inverted red triangle next to a prisoner number, B 4647, handwritten in faded blue ink. A rectangular outline of short dash marks drawn in black ink, now faded, surrounds the symbols and numbers. The top edge is folded back and has a few pinholes. All edges are frayed and the cloth is soiled, especially across the center, ad has black streaks and red brown stains. This prisoner was frequently issued new shirts and the badges reused. The dash marks perhaps acted as guidelines to fold the cloth or to align the patch evenly on backing material. front, black ink : B 4647
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: approximately 1944 April-approximately 1945 January
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn514351
is or was included in: us-005578-irn514208
record resource extent: overall: Height: 1.875 inches (4.763 cm) | Width: 6.125 inches (15.558 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Prisoner badge worn by David Wincygster while an inmate at Eintrachthütte slave labor camp from spring 1944-January 1945. It has his prisoner number which was assigned to him at Auschwtiz II Birkenau concentration camp and tattooed on his left forearm. It also has a yellow bar to identify him as Jewish and an inverted red triangle which usually identified political prisoners. In April 1941, David and his family were interned in Ostrowiec ghetto in German occupied Poland. In October 1942, the family was separated when most ghetto residents were deported to Treblinka killing center. David, brother Hershel, and uncle Fishel were kept behind to work in the aircraft factory. In April 1944, they were sent to Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp. David was transferred to Eintrachthutte. In January 1945, he was very sick and in the infirmary when Soviet soldiers liberated the camp. After recuperating for several months, David returned to Ostrowiec. He found one cousin, but the rest of his family had been killed. Bricha helped him get to the American zone in Germany. He was placed in St. Ottilien sanatorium, and then in Gabersee displaced persons camp. In 1949, he emigrated to America.
title: Prisoner ID badge B 4647 worn by Polish Jewish slave laborer