us-005578-irn523381-irn523436
type: RecordSet
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: Multicolored pin molded from copper alloy into the shape of a flat-bottomed V. The pressed metal design features an inverted triangle with a copper alloy raised border with raised text within a red painted background with a pebbled texture. Bordering each side of the triangle and forming the edges of the pin are raised metal rows painted to resemble the flags of the countries whose citizens suffered at Buchenwald: on the left: USSR, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Spain, France, Yugoslavia, Norway, Poland, and Belgium; on the right: East Germany, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Romania, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, Luxembourg, and Austria. On top of the triangle is a square tower with 2 cupolas surrounded by red flames. A metal C-clasp pin is soldered onto the back.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1945 April 11
has beginning date: 1969-01-01
has end date: 1969-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
history: The commemorative pin was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Samuel Heifetz, the son of Elja Heifecs.
history: Elja Heifecs was born December 5, 1912, to Samuel and Zilla Epelajtis in Riga, Latvia. His mother’s family was from Lithuania. He had one brother, Leibel, born in 1915. His father worked in the cotton trade. Elja had a traditional Jewish upbringing and attended Jewish schools. Elja musical gifts were noticed early and by the age of eight he was singing with his father in the choir at the Great Choral Synagogue, the largest synagogue in Riga. When Elja was twelve, his father bought him a cello and he began taking music lessons from Mr. Ciganov, the concertmaster for the Riga Opera Theater. He and his brother also learned to play the mandolin. In 1930, Elja decided to form a Jewish mandolin orchestra, the Eljas Heifecs Mandolin Orchestra, which became a popular success. They performed classical music as well as Elja’s original compositions and the Klezmer music his family had played for generations. Elja also introduced jazz to Latvia. His brother was a member of Elja’s orchestra as well as first mandolin for the Riga Radio Orchestra. In August 1940, the Soviet Union annexed Latvia and made Riga the capital of the Latvian SSR. In the spring of 1941, Germany launched a surprise attack on the Soviet Union and by July the Germans occupied Riga and made it the capital of the Reich Commissariat Ostland. German Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units), assisted by local Latvian auxiliaries, shot several thousand Jews. Jewish homes were raided and property destroyed during the pogroms. On July 4, several hundred people were trapped in the Great Choral Synagogue which was then set on fire and burned to the ground. Elja remembers standing on the street looking at the charred remains of the synagogue. A Jewish ghetto, sealed off from the rest of the city, was established by the Germans in October and Elja and his family were forced to move there. Water and electricity were cut off and food was scarce. Elja was given a work assignment at a woodworking shop outside the ghetto. The f…
identifier: irn523436
is or was included in: us-005578-irn523381
record resource extent: overall: Height: 1.750 inches (4.445 cm) | Width: 1.120 inches (2.845 cm) | Depth: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Commemorative pin issued to Elja Heifecs, a former inmate of Buchenwald concentration camp, by the GDR (German Democratic Republic / East Germany) in 1969 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald on April 11, 1945. The pin is decorated with the memorial Bell Tower built on the site in 1958 by East Germany and the flags of the eighteen countries whose citizens were imprisoned and killed there during the Holocaust. In July 1941, Germany declared war on the Soviet Union and invaded Latvia which had been annexed by the Soviets in 1940. A vicious pogrom was unleashed upon the Jews of Riga by German killing squads and roving gangs of Latvian fascists. In October, Elja and his family were forced into the ghetto. His 22 year old brother was told to report to work at a factory and never returned. Over three days in December, the Germans, with Latvian support, rounded up and killed at least 26,000 Jews in the forests outside the town; Elja’s parents were murdered on December 8. In December 1943, as the Germans were preparing to destroy the ghetto, Elja was deported to Kaiserwald concentration camp, then to Muhlgraben, Stutthof, and in August 1944, to Buchenwald. He did hard labor in the rock mines, until one day a kapo found out that he could play the guitar and made him his servant. In April 1945, as Allied forces moved towards the camp, the prisoners were sent on a death march to Theresienstadt. The camp was liberated in May by the Soviet Army. After Elja recovered from typhus and severe malnutrition, he returned to Riga, the only survivor of his extended family. He resumed his career as a musician. though he could no longer play the cello due to the severe damage to his hands from the hard labor.
title: Pin issued to a camp survivor with Buchenwald memorial Bell Tower and flags