us-005578-irn531023-irn531031
title: Armband stamped Jewish Police Schwandorf acquired by a US soldier
archival history: The armband was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2009 by Joseph Eaton.
record resource extent: overall: Height: 4.125 inches (10.478 cm) | Width: 7.750 inches (19.685 cm)
type: RecordSet
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
identifier: irn531031
has record set type: Item
has or had holder: us-005578
is or was included in: us-005578-irn531023
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Rectangular, discolored, offwhite cloth armband with blue stenciled English text on the front hemmed and sewn together at the short ends. There is a number handwritten in a traced circle on the back. back, lower right corner, handwritten, black ink : 12
date: 1945 May-1945 September
has or had some members with language: eng
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn531023-irn531031/acquisitions/1
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn531023-irn531031/alternateIDs/1
scope and content: Schwandorf Jewish police armband acquired by Joseph W. Eaton, 26, presumably after the war in Schwandorf displaced persons camp in Germany. Joseph had lived in the United States since November 1934 when his parents sent him away from Berlin, Germany. After joining the Army in 1942, he was trained in military government and psychological warfare at Camp Ritchie. He entered combat 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 responsible for radio and print propaganda for German troops and civilians to break morale and encourage surrender. He interviewed prisoners of war and reported on liberated concentration camps and German towns. 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, providing local news on practical issues like rationing, as well as stories on conditions in liberated concentration camps, DP camps, and the 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.
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…