The briefcase was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Terri Lynch, the daughter of Harry Ray.
Herszl Rabinowicz, born on September 17, 1904, emigrated from Warsaw, Poland, to the United States in August 1938. He eventually settled in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife and daughter and changed his name to Harry Ray. His brother, Pinchas Rabinowicz, remained in Poland with his family, where he was the cantor in Miedzyrzec Podlaski. In September 1939, after the German invasion of Poland, Pinchas and his family fled to Soviet occupied eastern Poland. In the early 1940, the Soviets demanded that refugees choose to become Soviet citizens, return to German occupied Poland, or do nothing. Pinchas and his extended family chose to do nothing and were sent to labor camps near Komi. At the end of July 1941, nearly a month after Germany’s surprise attack on the Soviet Union, the Russians declared a general amnesty and released Polish citizens from the camps. The Rabinowicz family went south to Uzbekistan. When the war ended in 1945, they relocated to the Hasenecke displaced persons camp near Kassel, Germany. In June 1949, due to the efforts of Pinchas’s brother, Herszl, in Chicago, they were able to emigrate to the United States. Harry passed away, age 76, in 1980.
Rectangular, dark brown, leather case with a gold colored zipper closure. There are 2 rectangular handles at the top, made from leather covered metal bars that can be raised or lowered through 2 holes punched through leather panels attached to the zipper. There is light brown stitching around the zipper and the edges of the case. Three accordion folds in the bottom of the bag mirror the interior which is divided into 3 sections by 2 textured leather partitions. A yellow ribbon with manufacturer’s information is sewn inside.
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overall: Height: 7.750 inches (19.685 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm) | Depth: 2.620 inches (6.655 cm)
Briefcase used by Harry Ray (Herszl Rabinowicz) to keep the correspondence from his family, including his brother, the cantor Pinchas Rabinowicz, from the Warsaw ghetto in Poland and the Soviet Union during the Holocaust. When the war ended in 1945, several family members relocated to the Hasenecke displaced persons camp near Kassel, Germany. In June 1949, due to Harry's efforts, they were able to emigrate to the United States. Harry, his wife, and their daughter had emigrated from Warsaw to the United States in August 1938.
Dark brown leather satchel used by a Polish Jewish refugee