us-005578-irn522400-irn522431
type: RecordSet
archival history: The tefillin pouch was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by Irma Mathes, the daughter of Bernhard Groeschel.
biographical history: Bernhard Groeschel was born in Forchheim, Germany, on March 12, 1878, to Phillipp and Adelheid Rosenbaum Groeschel. Bernhard had a brother, Gustav, and two sisters, Adelheid and Jenny. In 1924, Bernhard married Rose Goldberg. Rose was born in Emmendingen in 1892 to Olga Goldberg. The couple settled in Forchheim, a primarily Catholic town. Their daughter, Irmgard, was born in 1925. Bernhard managed the family textile business, PH Groeschel, which Phillipp founded. The family lived above the wholesale store and also owned a ready to wear store across the street. They were a prosperous and conservative Jewish family. Bernhard was president of the synagogue. Following Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in 1933, Jews were the targets of increasingly severe restrictions and persecution. Anti-Semitic signs were posted outside the family business, urging customers to boycott the stores. During the Kristallnacht pogrom on November 9-10, several townspeople entered the family home and destroyed belongings. Bernhard was deported to Dachau concentration camp. The family doctor, Dr. Greisinger, insisted that Rose was too sick to be interned and she was placed in a hospital. Rose later was sent to a home where all the Jewish women and children were benig held. On December 17, Bernhard was released from Dachau. He was forced to relinquish his business because he was Jewish. As the living conditions for Jews became increasingly dangerous, Bernhard and Rose decided to send Irmgard to Basel, Switzerland, on a kindertransport with the help of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS). Irmgard moved to Emmendingen with Rose’s mother, Olga, and aunt to establish residency because HIAS only accepted children from the state of Baden. In March 1939, she left for Basel. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Rose and Bernhard received visas to England. They travelled via ship but British authorities would not accept the refugees. They were sent to the Netherlands, where they were tol…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Black velvet rectangular tefillin pouch with side openings and a channel on the upper edge into which a ribbon is inserted for a drawstring and knotted in a loop. On the front, near the lower edge, are 2 large Hebrew letters hand embroidered in orange thread. The reverse center has large initials, BG, hand embroidered in orange thread. The velvet folds over the upper edge to form the channel and the interior is lined with black cloth. front, exterior, lower edge, dots below, one letter inverted, embroidered, orange thread: ר י [May it be the will] reverse, exterior, center, cursive, embroidered, orange thread : B. G.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: before 1938 November 09, after 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: irn522431
is or was included in: us-005578-irn522400
record resource extent: overall: Height: 9.000 inches (22.86 cm) | Width: 7.750 inches (19.685 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Tefillin storage pouch used by Bernhard Groeschel. It is embroidered with his initials. During the Kristallnacht pogrom on November 9-10, 1938, the pouch was thrown out of the window of his home in Forchheim, Germany, near Nuremberg. A neighbor saved the bag and returned it to Bernhard’s wife, Rose, after the war. Tefillin are used by Jewish males during morning prayers. Bernhard was imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp and released in December. In March 1939, Bernhard and Rose sent their 14 year old daughter, Irmgard, on a kindertransport to Basel, Switzerland. After war broke out in September 1939, Bernhard and Rose left Germany for England but were denied entry. They were sent to a refugee camp in the Netherlands and emigrated to the United States in April 1940. Irmgard joined her parents in the United States in August.
title: Black velvet tefillin pouch embroidered BG rescued after Kristallnacht and recovered postwar