us-005578-irn522960-irn44078
type: RecordSet
archival history: The deaf-mute sports medallion was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Esther Feld Weisel, the daughter of Max Feld.
biographical history: Esther Feld was born on December 22, 1940, in Paris, France, to Max and Raisa (Rose) Steinberg Feld. Max, born on January 6, 1915, in Berlin, Germany, and Raisa, born on April 1, 1917, in Kiev, Russia (Ukraine), had met as students at the Israelite School for the Deaf in Berlin, Germany. Raisa had emigrated with her family from Germany to Paris in 1938. Max joined her there and they married in December 1939. After Paris fell to the Germans on June 14, 1940, anti-Jewish regulations were enacted and foreign Jews were targeted for arrest. Her father was deported to Beaune-la-Rolande internment camp in May 1941 and transported to Birkenau concentration camp in July 1942. Her mother was assigned to a clothing factory, sewing fur coats for German officers. In July 1942, a French policeman warned Raisa that she should leave Paris. Raisa and Esther left Paris with Raisa’s mother and sister, Tauba and Sara Steinberg. The family had a summer home in nearby Villepointe and after staying at multiple farmhouses in the countryside, they decided to hide there. Esther was put in the care of a babysitter and then a non-Jewish couple, Monsieur and Madame Trene, a nurse. Raisa, Tauba, and Sara hid in the basement under a vault and a trap door. They lived this way for about nine months, until American soldiers came into the house in the summer of 1944 to tell them that they were free. Madame Trene did not want to give Esther back to Raisa. But after repeated demands by Raisa, Madame Trene thrust Esther at Raisa. The family returned to Paris where they found that their apartment had been emptied of all its contents. Max never returned and it was not until many years later that they learned that at age twenty-seven, he had been killed in Auschwitz-Birkenau in September 1942. In 1947, the Venezuelan government announced that they would accept 2000 Jewish refugees from Paris. Esther, Raisa, Tauba, and Sara emigrated that year. In 1949, Esther and Raisa moved to New York. Raisa married Ted …
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Silver colored, 5-sided metal medallion with a square base that narrows to a pointed top. There is a relief image a youth in left profile wearing a laurel wreath, framed within a circle with raised, copper alloy edges. The border has an embossed, copper alloy floral pattern. At the top is an opening with a suspension ring. The reverse has applied copper alloy French text. back, center, raised letters : L . P . S . S . / 1938 / 1ERE EQUIPE [L . P . S . S . / 1938 / 1st TEAM]
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1938-01-01
has end date: 1938-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: fra
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn44078
is or was included in: us-005578-irn522960
record resource extent: overall: Height: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) | Width: 0.875 inches (2.223 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Sports medal awarded in 1938 to Max Feld. In 1938, he left Germany for Paris to be with Raisa Steinberg, whom he had met when they were students at the Israelite School for the Deaf in Berlin. They married in 1939, and had a daughter, Esther, in 1940. Paris was occupied by the Germans in the summer of 1940 and foreign Jews were targeted for arrest. In May 1941, Max was sent to Beaune-la-Rolande interment camp; in July 1942, he was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Raisa went into hiding with Esther in July 1942 in the countryside outside Paris. They returned to Paris after it was liberated by Allied Forces on August 15, 1944. Max was reported as missing. Several years later, Raisa learned that Max had been killed in Auschwitz-Birkenau in September 1942.
title: Deaf-mute sports team medal awarded to a German Jewish athlete