us-005578-irn521434-irn514662
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
record resource extent: overall: Height: 5.750 inches (14.605 cm) | Width: 1.250 inches (3.175 cm) | Depth: 0.500 inches (1.27 cm)
is or was included in: us-005578-irn521434
has record set type: Item
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
archival history: The baby spoon was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by Jill Berg Pauly, the cousin of Hilde Hermanns.
biographical history: Hilde Hermanns was born on August 28, 1923, in Monchengladbach, Germany, to Jewish parents Julius Jakob and Margarete Goldbaum Hermanns. Julius was born on March 6, 1891, in Neersen (Willich), Germany, to Michael and Rosalie Davids Hermanns (1870-1938). He had five siblings: Fritz, Sophie, born on April 19, 1896, and Henrietta, born July 7, 1901, and two brothers who died in World War I (1914-1918). Margarete was born on March 26, 1899, in Gelsenkirchen, to Meyer and Paulina Vogelsang Goldbaum. She had two sisters, Erna, born April 18, 1907, and Else, born July 15, 1911. Julius was a textile merchant and owned a linen store with his siblings. Margarete was a dressmaker and Hilde worked as a seamstress. After Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, increasingly severe restrictions were placed on the Jewish population. Hilde’s paternal aunt Henrietta and her husband Sally (Sol) Meyer (1898-1980), with their 11 year old son Hans, left for New York in July 1938. Hilde's paternal grandmother Rosalie died of natural causes in 1938. On September 24, 1938, Julius was interned in Dachau concentration camp and then transferred to Buchenwald in October. In April 1939, he was released on the condition that he would leave the country. His relative, Julius Kaufmann, and Henrietta’s husband, Sol, arranged a Cuban landing certificate for him for a $190.00 fee. Julius booked passage on the MS St. Louis, sailing on May 13, 1939, to Havana. There was money for only one ticket and Grete and Hilde remained in Germany. After the ship arrived in Cuba on May 27, Cuban authorities denied entry to all but 22 of the 937 passengers. After a week, the ship was ordered to leave. Jewish aid organizations negotiated with Belgium, Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands to admit the passengers rather than return them to Germany. When the ship docked at Antwerp on June 27, Julius was given refuge in France. In September 1939, German invaded Poland and France declared war. Julius was arrested as an enemy …
type: RecordSet
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn521434-irn514662/acquisitions/1
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Silver spoon with an oblong bowl. The narrow neck has incised lines along the edge and widens to form an elongated oval handle with a slightly pointed tip. The handle has an embossed floral garland border and a name engraved in the center. The reverse is smooth. front, handle, cursive,engraved : Hilde
date: approximately 1930
title: Silver teaspoon engraved Hilde given to a Jewish girl in prewar Germany
identifier: irn514662
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn521434-irn514662/alternateIDs/1
has or had holder: us-005578
scope and content: Child's spoon engraved with her name and given to Hilde Hermanns circa 1930, when she was a 7 year old child in Monchengladbach, Germany. When Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, Hilde and her parents, Julius and Margarete (Grete), lived comfortably in Monchengladbach where her father ran a dry goods store with his siblings. The Nazi regime increasingly persecuted Jews, boycotting and taking away their businesses. Julius was arrested in September 1938 and sent to Dachau, and then Buchenwald concentration camp. He was released in April 1939, with the condition that he leave the country. He left on the MS St Louis, but it was forced to return from Cuba with nearly all passengers. Julius was given refuge in France, but interned after Germany invaded Poland in September and France declared war. Hilde was assigned as forced labor in a factory in July 1940. In December 1941, Hilde, her mother, Grete, and paternal aunt Sophie were deported to the Riga ghetto in German occupied Latvia. Julius was deported to Auschwitz in August 1942, and killed. On October 1, 1944, Hilde, 19, and Margarete, 45, were transferred to Stutthof concentration camp, where they perished. The spoon was preserved by her cousin, Jill Berg, whose family fled Lechenich, Germany, just before Kristallnacht in November 1938, and left for Kenya in May/June 1939.