us-005578-irn521177-irn514917
type: RecordSet
archival history: The model airplane was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1988 by Milton Shurr.
biographical history: Milton Shurr was born on January 28, 1911, in Rochester, NY, to Mr and Mrs. Harry Shurr. On June 3, 1941, he married Muriel Friedman, from New York City. That year, motivated by news about the persecution of Jews in Europe, including news from correspondents about the camps, Milton joined the field staff of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Fund. He moved from Minneapolis, MN, to Oklahoma City, OK, to head the Fund. He transitioned from being a program organizer in public health to arranging regional conferences to fundraise and to inform US citizens of what was happening abroad. The United States entered World War II on December 8, 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Milton was drafted into the US Army and enrolled in Officer's Candidate School. Corporal Shurr was then sent to military government school to be trained to rebuild postwar Germany. First Lieutenant Shurr and the rest of his class were deployed to Great Britain in February 1944. They assisted in the preparations for Operation Overlord, set for June 6, 1944. He was recruited from the Quartermasters Corp by the Army's Department of Civilian Affairs. Slated to deploy one week after D-Day, their departure was delayed to send more fighting troops. They then landed on Omaha Beach near Isigny. Milton was stationed with the 1st Army. He was assigned to collect medical or other supplies dropped on the beach and then throughout France. In October 1944, Milton was placed with the 1st Army Displaced Persons Team in Vervier, Belgium, and was in Malmady during the Battle of the Bulge. He continued to travel widely with a driver searching for supplies. They drove through combat territory and were often bombed. Around January 1945, Milton fell ill with hepatitis and was sent to England to recover. He returned to his unit in Germany the day after Patton's 3rd Army liberated Buchenwald concentration camp on April 11, 1945. Buchenwald was then transferred to the command of the 1st Army, which had the t…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Handcrafted, shiny, silver aluminum model airplane with an angular body and a flat, circular nose cone with a threaded center hole and a curved, rectangular bottom extension. The body widens into a rectangle with a peaked flat top and angled panels, to suggest a cockpit. The rectangular wings, curved on top and flat below, slant down from the plane's underside then level off and taper out to flat, rounded ends. Attached under the wings are teardrop shaped wheel housings with fixed wheels. A diagonal support rod runs through the wheel housing into a small hole in the bottom of the body; behind the rod holes is another small threaded hole. Behind the wings, the body narrows and slants down, then widens and arches up into a flattened, vertical, rectangular tail fin. A small, rectangular, perpendicular tail flap is fitted through a slot at the base of the fin. There is a small, third wheel below the tail flap. It been made originally had a base or made to attach to a base.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1945 April-1945 May
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn514917
is or was included in: us-005578-irn521177
record resource extent: overall: Height: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Width: 5.875 inches (14.923 cm) | Depth: 5.625 inches (14.288 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Model German Stuka bomber presented to Lt. Milton Shurr, a Jewish American soldier, made by a former prisoner at the recently liberated Buchenwald concentration camp. He was told that the models were made for the SS camp officers. First Lt. Shurr, Civil Affairs Unit, assisted in planning for D-Day, June 6, 1944. He landed on Omaha Beach soon after the invasion to organize supplies, then was placed with the 1st Army Displaced Persons Team. On April 11, 1945, the US Third Army liberated Buchenwald. Command of the camp was transferred to the 1st Army, which was responsible for establishing order, improving camp conditions, and caring for the inmates. Shurr worked 16 hour days trying to find food for 15,000 starving survivors. He later was sent to Bavaria as a health welfare officer to assist with the re-establishment of schools, hospitals, and other social services by the US Military occupation government. In 1949, he declined a permanent position and returned to the US.
title: Model Stuka airplane made by liberated concentration camp inmate and given to US military aid worker