us-005578-irn521901-irn515327
type: RecordSet
archival history: The tefillin set was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by Gisela Zamora, the wife of Joseph Zamora.
biographical history: Josef Joel Zamojre was born on June 28, 1921, in Greiz, Germany, to Marcus and Elinor Wiesenthal Zamojre. Marcus was born on August 16, 1893, in Zalozce, Poland (Zaliztsi, Ukraine), to Shalom and Esther Frish Zamojre. Elinor was born on May 15, 1889, in Lvov, Poland (Lviv, Ukraine), to Yosef Wiesenthal and Rachel Gefner. The family settled in Frankfurt am Main. They were observant and kept a kosher household. Marcus owned a pipe and tobacco store. The family was wealthy and vacationed annually with family in Greiz. The Nazi government that came to power in 1933 enacted severe anti-Jewish policies. Antisemitism increased and while on vacation in Greiz, Josef was tormented by anti-Jewish taunts. He nearly drowned the boy who made them, but his aunt intervened. In 1935, the Catholic principal of Josef’s school, Dr. Zeiger, told Marcus to transfer Josef to a Jewish school. He then attended the Jewish Philanthropin Reformrealgymnasium, a preparatory school for Cambridge University in England. In 1937, two British teachers were hired to teach all courses in English to facilitate eventual emigration; one often referred to the school as the “Jew school.” During Kristallnacht on November 10, 1938, the family hid in the attic. They could see synagogues burning and firemen protecting only Aryan homes. German SA members invaded the house and threw the family’s belongings out the windows. They found the family in the attic. One beat Marcus with a table leg and then swung it at Elinor, but only grazed her chin. Marcus was hospitalized and Elinor and Josef went into hiding in a friend’s home. They read a false report in a newspaper that a fight had broken out between Marcus and his neighbor and both had been taken to the hospital. After a few days, Marcus was released and the family returned home. On November 22, German SS officers took Josef to a fairground. He saw men down rolling on the ground while being kicked, and then loaded onto buses. One officer asked seventeen year old …
physical characteristics and technical requirements: a. Head tefillin, a small, square box (batim) constructed of 4 black painted leather strips centered on a square, black painted, layered platform sewn together with giddin, gut from kosher animals. The left and right box sides have an embossed Hebrew letter, Shin. The platform has a notched opening through which a leather strap is inserted. The long leather strap, speckled from age and wear, is knotted at one end and then looped through the longer end; it is wrapped around the box for storage. The box should contain 4 separate pieces parchment scrolls inscribed with a Torah verse. b. Hand tefillin, a small square box (batim) constructed of 4 black painted leather strips centered on a square, black painted, layered platform sewn with giddin, gut from kosher animals. The platform has a notched opening through which the strap appears to be inserted. The box is wrapped within a long, worn, leather strap, painted black on top and unfinished on the bottom, and is not fully visible. The box should contain a parchment scroll inscribed with a Torah verse. a. left and right side, left side with 4 strokes, painted : Hebrew Shin letter
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: approximately 1945 May
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: heb
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn515327
is or was included in: us-005578-irn521901
record resource extent: a: Height: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Width: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm) | Depth: 3.500 inches (8.89 cm) b: Height: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) | Width: 2.125 inches (5.398 cm) | Depth: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Pair of tefillin buried for safekeeping by Marcus and Josef Zamojre while living in hiding in Taglio-di-Po, Italy. The tefillin, which had belonged to Marcus, were recovered by Josef after the war. Tefillin are small boxes containing prayers worn by Orthodox Jewish males during morning prayers. In December 1940, Josef and Marcus fled from Frankfurt in Nazi Germany, to Graz on the Austrian-Yugoslav border. After several failed attempts to cross the border, they reached Zagreb in March 1941. In April, Germany invaded Yugoslavia and, in July, Josef and Marcus escaped to Italian occupied Ljubljana. In September 1943, Germany occupied northern Italy and Josef and Marcus went into hiding. In March 1944, they were discovered and deported by the Germans to Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. In October, Josef was sent to Auschwitz-Monowitz. In January 1945, Josef escaped a death march and hid in a barn owned by Polish farmers. After the war, he learned that Marcus died in Auschwitz in October 1944. Josef emigrated to the United States in 1947 and married Gisela Eckstein in 1952. Gisela, also from Germany, was a survivor of Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Maerzdorf slave labor camp.
title: Set of tefillin buried for safekeeping and recovered postwar