us-005578-irn53803-irn83890
date: 1940 August
archival history: The napkin was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Audrey Eisenmann and Geoffrey Eisenmann, the children of Ruth Karlsruher Eisenmann and grandchildren of Jella Furth Karlsruher.
identifier: irn83890
record resource extent: overall: Height: 15.500 inches (39.37 cm) | Width: 15.750 inches (40.005 cm)
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn53803-irn83890/alternateIDs/1
is or was included in: us-005578-irn53803
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
type: RecordSet
biographical history: Ruth Regina Karlsruher was born July 30, 1922, in Mannheim, Germany, to Nathan and Jella Furth Karlsruher. She had an older half sister, Irene Regensburger, born on July 18, 1905, from her mother’s first marriage to Leonhard Regensburger. Nathan was born on April 5, 1874, in Ittlingen. Jella was born on January 25, 1879, in Eppingen. Nathan worked with his brother Karl as a grain trader in Mannheim. Ruth attended public school, and received a Jewish education. They lived a comfortable life and employed a maid and dressmakers. They regularly attended services at their synagogue. Ruth did not have non-Jewish friends. In January 1933, Hitler came to power in Germany and anti-Jewish laws were enacted almost immediately. As anti-Semitism increased, the family began attempting to leave Germany. Jella had three siblings living in the United States and they applied for a visa waiting number to the US, but had a high number. In 1933, Ruth had difficulty being accepted to public high school because there was a quota for Jews. Only Jewish children whose fathers had served in World War I (1914-1918) were initially accepted and Nathan had not served in the army. On October 21, 1933, Nathan died of congestive heart failure. Ruth and Jella moved in with Ruth’s sister, Irene, her husband Friedrich Schweizer, and their newborn son, Hans, who was profoundly deaf. In 1935, Ruth was at a public pool after school when Nazis with crowbars came in and demanded that all Jews leave. In 1936, the anti-Semitism in her school became too difficult for Ruth and she switched to a Jewish school for her final year of high school. In 1937, Ruth went to a Jewish boarding school in Wolfratshuasen, a small town outside of Munich. She learned English and French and how to cook, clean and sew, to prepare for immigration to Palestine or the US. After a year, Ruth returned to her mother in Mannheim, took private lessons in English, French and Hebrew, and attended a compulsory school twice a week. On Novemb…
title: White damask napkin with embroidered monograms saved by a German Jewish prewar emigre
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn53803-irn83890/acquisitions/1
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Square, white, floral patterned damask linen napkin with a pattern of interlocked squares. The center square has a circle of vines with 2 flowers in each corner. The next square has a repeating flower pattern. The outer square is narrow with a curving vine. A plain white border, 1.125 inches, is attached by a row of fagoting. Two monograms are embroidered in the center square. There is a diagonal seam in the back corners. front, left of center, monograms, embroidered, white thread : JF / RK [Jetta Furth / Ruth Karlsruher]
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
scope and content: Linen napkin embroidered with their initials brought by Jella Furth Karlsruher and her daughter Ruth, age 18, when they escaped Nazi Germany in August 1940. The napkin and other items from her trousseau were sent in crates to Holland and then later to New York. When Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, Nathan, Jella and Ruth were living in Mannheim. Following Nathan’s death in October 1933, Jella and Ruth moved in with Jella’s daughter from her first marriage, Irene Schweizer, her husband Friedrich, and son Hans. Ruth experienced anti-Semitism constantly. During Kristallnacht on November 10, 1938, Friedrich was sent to Dachau and released in January 1939. Friedrich, Irene, and Hans fled to England in summer 1939. From September to November 1939, Ruth performed forced agricultural labor. In March 1940, Irene left for the US and then arranged the necessary money and documentation for Jella and Ruth to emigrate. They received visas in May but had to change their travel plans several times because of the war. In August, Jella and Ruth left Berlin and traveled through the Soviet Union, Manchuria, Korea, and Japan, until arriving in Chicago in September 1940.
has record set type: Item
has or had holder: us-005578