us-005578-irn521884-irn521980
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn521884-irn521980/alternateIDs/1
type: RecordSet
physical characteristics and technical requirements: a. Small, rectangular box with a lid attached by a nailed metal hinge on the back. The lid has a square metal peg on the front interior. The lid and base are made of white, light brown, and dark brown seashells with beveled edges. The lid exterior has a silver colored metal applique of an eagle holding a snake in its beak and talons nailed on the center; on the lower right corner are gold colored metal initials. The copper sides are nailed to the base which is slightly warped. b. Small, flat, rectangular, copper plaque with a silver colored metal applique of a man with an outstretched arm and a woman with engraved line details in the lower right corner. They are look toward the upper left corner at a sun with an applied gold colored metal body and engraved rays. There are textured mountains across the top. Along the lower edge are an engraved city name and initials. The reverse is crudely engraved with a year and Romanian text diagonally on the upper left and a date on the lower right edge. a. exterior, lid, lower right corner : LK b. front, lower left edge, engraved : RÂBNITA b. front, lower center right, engraved : LK b. reverse, diagonally, upper left, engraved : 1944. / De ziuata / Lazăr [1944. / Your birthday / Lazăr] b. reverse, lower right edge, engraved : 8 Martie. [March 8.]
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn521884-irn521980/acquisitions/1
has or had some members with language: ron
identifier: irn521980
is or was included in: us-005578-irn521884
has record set type: Item
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
date: 1944 January-1944 April
title: Small box made of copper bullet casings and seashells with a decorative plaque made for a labor camp inmate by a fellow inmate
scope and content: Handcrafted box made for 25 year old Leia Kreimer in 1944 when she was imprisoned in Vapniarka concentration camp in Transnistria. It was made by Lazar, who had been a fellow inmate, in Rabnita prison as a gift for Leia. It is engraved with her initials, LK, and birth date, March 8. He had it smuggled to her with other inmates released from jail and sent back to Vapniarka. Lazar was killed in Rabnita. In mid-1941, the Fascist, antisemitic government of Romania sent Leia and her husband, Mechel, to Dornesti prison camp, where they were separated. In summer 1941, Leia was sent to a Jewish refugee camp in Zaleszczyki, Poland. In July 1942, she was deported to Swidowa labor camp. She escaped to Romania, but was jailed by the Germans for being a communist. In August, Leia was deported to Vapniarka and, in spring 1944, transferred to Grosulovo camp, then Targu-Jiu and Turnu Severin in Romania. The area was liberated by the Soviet Army on August 23. The majority of Leia’s family, including her husband, were killed during the Holocaust.
biographical history: Leia Elerant was born on March 8, 1919, in Lipcani, Romania (Lipkany (Moldavian S.S.R.)), to Haim, an egg exporter, and Seiba Kreimer Elerant. Haim was born to Avrum and Frida Elerant. Seiba was born to Fruma and Shmiel Kreimer. Leia had two younger sisters, Nehoma and Genia, and one younger brother, Asher. The family was Orthodox, and Seiba kept a kosher home. Leia attended public school, had private Hebrew lessons, and participated in the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement. She spoke Yiddish, Hebrew, Romanian, and some Russian. Leia later worked as a dental technician. In 1937, she married her maternal uncle, Mechel (Muni) Kreimer, born in 1912. He had a fabric store in Lipcani. The German-Soviet non-aggression pact of 1939 returned the Romanian provinces of northern Bukovina and Bessarabia, in which Lipcani was located, to the Soviet Union. Romania had a long tradition of antisemitism, which was emboldened by the rise of Nazi Germany. General Antonescu and the fascist Iron Guard seized power in late 1940. Mechel’s business was confiscated. He and Leia moved to Cernauti and lived with an acquaintance of her father. She worked at a factory making rubber shoes. Leia supported the Soviet system until she was unable to receive a passport because she was Jewish. In summer 1941, she and Mechel walked to the Soviet-Romanian border, and stayed with her paternal uncle and his family. They learned that the Romanian authorities planned to kill anyone housing refugees from Cernauti, so Leia and Mechel left. Romanian soldiers stopped them, and an officer on horseback took Leia’s valise, wedding ring, and their watches. Leia and Mechel were taken to the Romanian police, put in a cellar, and questioned. The police sent them on a cattle car to Dornesti. Upon arrival, Leia was separated from Mechel and sent to a bathing house with Ukrainian women. Under Romanian guard, Leia and the women were forced to walk north from town to town to the Galician border. Peasants sometimes threw frui…
has or had holder: us-005578
record resource extent: a: Height: 0.625 inches (1.588 cm) | Width: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Depth: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) b: Height: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Width: 1.875 inches (4.763 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm)
archival history: The box was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by Leah Derera.