us-005578-irn53803-irn84378
type: RecordSet
archival history: The opera glasses were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Audrey Eisenmann and Geoffrey Eisenmann, the niece and nephew of Irene Schweizer.
biographical history: Irene Regensburger was born on July 18, 1905, in Plauen, Germany, to Leonhard and Jella Furth Regensburger. Leonhard was born on July 12, 1858, and Jella on January 25, 1879, both in Eppingen. Leonhard had been a silk and textile merchant in France for twenty years and had acquired French citizenship. He had returned to Saxony because he wanted a German wife. He became a partner in a drapery manufacturing factory in Plauen. Jella and Leonhard married on September 30, 1903, and moved to Plauen. When Leonhard retired in 1912, the family moved back to Eppingen. On April 11, 1914, Leonhard died of cancer. On December 5, 1919, Jella married Nathan Karlsruher who had been her first love. However, Nathan, the oldest brother of twelve, had not been able to marry until he had helped all his sisters wed. The family moved to Mannheim. Irene changed her last name to Regensburger-Karlsruher. Jella had another child, Ruth, on July 30, 1922. The family lived very well, with dressmakers and servants. Irene excelled at school and graduated in 1922 at age 17. She then got a job at a bank. On May 27, 1927, she married Friedrich Schweizer. Friedrich, born on August 20, 1891, was a veteran of World War i (1914-1918.) He was employed as a manager at Deutsche Bank and, since he earned more than minimum wage, Irene was legally required to leave her job. Friedrich had two sisters, Celia and Rose, who emigrated from Germany. In January 1933, Hitler came to power in Germany and anti-Jewish laws were enacted almost immediately. On September 19, 1933, the couple had a son, Hans, who was born profoundly deaf. Irene’s stepfather, Nathan, died on October 21, 1933. Her mother Jella and step-sister Ruth moved in with Irene and her family. When Hans was older, he was sent to a school for deaf children in Berlin. In 1936, Friedrich was fired from his job because he was Jewish. On November 10, 1938, during Kristallnacht, two Nazis entered the apartment and took Friedrich. A few hours later, more Nazis …
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Opera glasses with 2 flared barrels cased in 10 faceted mother of pearl panels. The front end has a large glass objective lens with a silver colored metal rim, painted black around the lens. The back end has a metal draw tube with white plastic eyecups and mother of pearl rims around the smaller ocular lens. The barrels are connected by a frame with 3 horizontal, curved bridges and a central vertical tube with a white plastic focus knob in the center that twists to adjust the glasses. There is a white circle of plastic on the exterior of the back bridge.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1939 July
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn84378
is or was included in: us-005578-irn53803
record resource extent: overall: Height: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Width: 4.000 inches (10.16 cm) | Depth: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Mother of pearl opera glasses saved by Irene Schweizer when she fled Germany on a Kindertransport with her 6 year old son Hans in July 1939, joining her husband in England. When Hitler rose to power in Germany in 1933, Irene, Hans, and her husband Friedrich resided in Mannheim. Irene’s stepfather, Nathan Karlsruher, died that October and Irene’s mother and half-sister, Jella and Ruth Karlsruher, 11, moved in with them. In 1936, Friedrich was fired from his job as a bank manager because he was Jewish. During Kristallnacht on November 10, 1938, Friedrich was arrested and sent to Dachau. Their home was invaded by Nazi party supporters and their belongings were destroyed. In January 1939, Friedrich was released. Irene made arrangements for him to go to England in June. In July, Irene picked up Hans from his school for the deaf in Berlin and left for England. They emigrated to the United States in March 1940 and settled in Chicago. Irene arranged for her mother and sister to get to America in September 1940.
title: Mother of pearl opera glasses saved by a German Jewish prewar emigre