us-005578-irn524132-irn34691
scope and content: Wedding veil worn by 27 year old Ella Lichtig at her marriage to Lorand Schichtanz on June 18, 1931, in Budapest, Hungary. In 1941, in response to recent anti-Semitic racial laws, Ella and her young daughter, Judit, converted to Catholicism. In March 1944, Hungary was occupied by Nazi Germany. Lorand was drafted into a forced labor battalion and sent to Austria. In October, Ella was ordered to report for forced labor. She avoided registration and went into hiding with Judit. The Mother Superior from the convent where Ella taught music helped them find work as domestics under their false identities. On February 13, 1945, the city was liberated by the Soviet Army. That July, two young men arrived with a message from Lorand. He had survived the war but was not returning to his family or to Hungary.
date: 1931 June 18
identifier: irn34691
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
type: RecordSet
title: Wedding veil worn by a Jewish woman in prewar Budapest
biographical history: Ella Lichtig was born in Budapest, Hungary, on April 19, 1904. She married Lorand Schichtanz, born February 25, 1900, also in Budapest, on June 18, 1931. Their only child, Judit, was born on April 14, 1935. They were assimilated Jews and had a Christmas tree every year for their daughter. Lorand was an architectural draftsman and Ella was a piano teacher and also taught music at a convent. From 1938-1941, a series of racial laws modeled on the Nuremburg Laws in Nazi Germany were enacted to restrict the rights that Jews had been granted in Hungary since 1867. In 1941, Ella told the Mother Superior of the convent where she worked that she was Jewish. The nun suggested that Ella convert to Catholicism; she did so and had Judit baptized as well. In March 1944, Hungary was occupied by Germany. Jewish owned property was confiscated and thousands of Jews were imprisoned or deported to concentration camps. In May, Lorand received an SAS (Storm Soldat) card in the mail drafting him into a forced labor battalion. In November, he was taken to Zurndorf, Austria, to the Schützen am Gebirge forced labor camp. In June, Elle and Judit moved into her parent’s apartment in the Jewish section of the city. The building was marked with a yellow Star of David and they had to wear Star of David badges visible on their clothing at all times. On October 9, Ella was told to report for forced labor. She managed to avoid registration by pretending that a young child belonging to a Roma woman in line was hers. She told the SS officer that she could not be taken for forced labor because she had a child under ten. She was wearing her Star of David badge identifying her as a Jew, and there was no such rule, but the guard let her leave. Upon her return home, she rushed past her surprised parents to grab the baby clothes that she had promised the woman, who was waiting downstairs, in return for her silence. Her parents were afraid that the concierge would report them because Ella had returned. Ella …
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn524132-irn34691/acquisitions/1
archival history: The wedding veil was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 by Judit Schichtanz, the daughter of Ella Schichtanz.
is or was included in: us-005578-irn524132
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn524132-irn34691/alternateIDs/1
record resource extent: overall: Height: 116.750 inches (296.545 cm) | Width: 73.500 inches (186.69 cm)
has record set type: Item
physical characteristics and technical requirements: White veil made from hexagonal netting with scalloped edges and 2 chainstitched borders with a large floral chainstitched design in floss at each corner.