us-005578-irn531023-irn531024
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
type: RecordSet
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
scope and content: Scrapbook containing scrip and a Star of David badge owned by Joseph W. Eaton. Joseph had lived in the United States since November 1934 when his parents in Berlin, Germany, got him passage through German Jewish Children’s Aid. In September 1942, he entered the US Army and was trained in military government and psychological warfare at Camp Ritchie. He entered the war zone in France, six weeks after D-Day, June 4, 1944, as part of the 4th Mobile Broadcasting Unit, Allied Headquarters. He was part of a handpicked Press and Publications Unit under Hans Habe responsible for creating propaganda for broadcast and print for German troops and civilians to break morale and encourage surrender. He interviewed prisoners of war and visited liberated concentration camps and German towns to investigate and report on the situation. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, and Joseph's unit convinced General Eisenhower of the need to establish a free press throughout Germany. Joseph was editor of the weekly paper in Straubing. His reports on local news covered practical details like rationing, and broader topics such as conditions in the liberated concentration camps, the displaced persons camps, and the unique situation of Jewish refugees who did not want repatriated to their native lands. Joseph’s parents, Jacob and Flora, were murdered in Sobibor killing center and his maternal grandmother, Cilli Goldschmidt, died of starvation in Theresienstadt in March 1943.).
identifier: irn531024
has or had holder: us-005578
archival history: The scrapbook was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2009 by Joseph W. Eaton.
record resource extent: overall: Height: 8.250 inches (20.955 cm) | Width: 7.500 inches (19.05 cm) | Depth: 0.394 inches (1.001 cm)
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn531023-irn531024/acquisitions/1
has record set type: Item
is or was included in: us-005578-irn531023
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Blue bound volume containing 20 pieces of scrip and one Star of David badge
biographical history: Josef Wechsler was born on September 28, 1919, in Nuremberg, Germany, to an Orthodox Jewish couple, Jacob and Flora Goldschmidt Wechsler. Josef had three brothers: Siegfried, born in 1913, Martin, born in 1915, and Herbert, born in 1921. Jacob was born on January 27, 1885, in Furth, to Joseph and Hannah Rosenbaum Wechsler. He had three brothers. Jacob served in the German Army for four years during World War I (1914-1918). Flora was born on December 28, 1890, in Frankfurt, to Isaac and Cilly Hamburger Goldschmidt. Their families had lived in Germany since the 1400’s. Jacob and Flora married in 1912 in Frankfurt. Jacob owned a shaving brush factory in Nuremburg. Josef attended a Jewish grade school. In 1930, the family moved to Berlin when Jacob’s factory went bankrupt as a result of the economic crash. Jacob worked for a company selling shaving brushes. In January 1933, Hitler came to power in Germany. An anti-Semitic Nazi dictatorship was established soon after. Jacob lost his job and Josef and his brothers were expelled from school because they were Jewish. Josef attended a Jewish school, the Goldschmidt School. Jacob and Flora looked for ways to emigrate. They could not get visas so they decided to send their children out of the country. On November 14, 1934, 15 year old Josef sailed from Hamburg on the SS President Harding, arriving in New York on November 24. His 13 year old brother Herbert had been sent to New York the previous week. They were sponsored by the German Jewish Children’s Aid, which helped 20,000 Jewish children go to the United States to finish their education. Josef lived in several foster homes in New York. He changed his name to Joseph. In 1935 and 1936, Joseph’s brothers Siegfried and Martin went to Palestine. They changed their names to Shlomo and Moshe. At age 16, Joseph graduated from high school and began college. He received a scholarship to Cornell University and graduated in 1940. In 1940, Joseph began using the last name Eaton. Shlomo…
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn531023-irn531024/alternateIDs/1
title: Theresienstadt scrapbook acquired by a German American US soldier