us-005578-irn514935-irn45083
type: RecordSet
archival history: The towel was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2006 by Gertrude Brand, the widow of Percy Brand.
biographical history: Grunia Lewin (later Gertrude Levine Brand) was born on October 1, 1919, in Liepāja, Latvia, to a Jewish couple, Aron David and Lisa Chrapkowska Lewin. She worked as an apothecary, chemist, and farmer. She was married to Elias Leo Hirshman. The Soviet Union occupied Latvia in June 1940. In spring 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union and, by July 1941, the country was occupied by German forces. On July 1, 1942, Grunia was forced into the newly formed ghetto in Liepāja. In August, the ghetto was closed off from the rest of the city. On May 5, 1943, Grunia was arrested by the German Security Police (Sipo). On September 3, Grunia was transported to Dondangen II (Poperwahlen) forced labor camp, a sub-camp of Riga-Kaiserwald concentration camp. In early July, as the Soviets advanced, the camp was evacuated and Grunia was transported to Dondangen I. In late July, the Sipo running the camp closed it, and on August 9, 1944, they sent many prisoners, including Grunia, to Stutthof concentration camp, near the German occupied city of Danzig. Upon arrival, she was assigned prisoner number 57127. On August 22, she was transferred to Mühldorf concentration camp, a sub-camp of Dachau concentration camp. She was assigned prisoner number 92894 and was likely put to work as a forced laborer at an underground airplane factory code-named Weingut I. Grunia’s husband, Elias, Leo was deported to Dachau, where he was murdered. Grunia was liberated on May 1, 1945. Following Germany’s May 7 surrender, Grunia traveled to a displaced persons camp in Feldafing, Germany. In 1947, she attended a concert in Frankfurt, Germany, given by Perec Brandt, a musician from Liepāja. Perec had lost his wife and two children during the war and survived Riga-Kaiserwald, Stutthof, and Buchenwald concentration camps by playing his violin to appease the guards and earn extra food. The two met at his performance, soon married, and Grunia went to live with him in the Zeilsheim DP camp. Grunia became his manager as…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Rectangular, thin, worn, white cloth towel with faded, narrow, red vertical and yellow horizontal lines and frayed ends. A number is stitched in gray thread along the bottom edge. bottom edge, embroidered, gray thread : 82321/23
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1944 August 16-1945 April 11
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn45083
is or was included in: us-005578-irn514935
record resource extent: overall: Height: 44.625 inches (113.348 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Towel used by 35 year old Perec Brandt, embroidered with his prisoner number, 82321/23, for Buchenwald concentration camp where he was imprisoned from 1943-1945. Perec was the concertmaster of the Riga Latvian Symphony Orchestra in 1940 when the Soviets annexed Latvia. In June 1941, Latvia was under German occupation and Perec’s wife, daughter, and son were murdered by the SS Einsatzgruppen [mobile killing unit]. Perec was forced into the Riga ghetto, and later transferred to Riga-Kaiserwald, Stutthof, and Buchenwald concentration camps. In Buchenwald, he was ordered to play his violin for the commandant and was rewarded with extra rations. He kept his violin with him throughout his imprisonment and even slept with it. He was liberated from Buchenwald on April 11, 1945, by the United States Army. Perec weighed 50 pounds at liberation. He joined the Kibbutz Buchenwald, part of a displaced persons camp. Postwar, he performed with his violin in various DP camps where he met and married Grunia Lewin (later Gertrude), a survivor of Dondangen II, Stutthof, and Mühldorf concentration camps. They immigrated to the United States in February 1949.
title: Striped bath towel embroidered with the inmate’s prisoner number and used in Buchenwald concentration camp