us-005578-irn543242-irn543250
record resource extent: overall: Height: 7.000 inches (17.78 cm) | Width: 4.875 inches (12.383 cm) | Depth: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm)
has record set type: Item
has beginning date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1940-01-01
has or had some members with language: deu
archival history: The wallet was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015 by Gary Werner on behalf of the estate of his mother Annemarie Warschauer.
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
biographical history: Annemarie Alexander was born on August 3, 1920, in Berlin, Germany, to Isadore and Anna Hirschensohn Alexander, who was born in 1890. Isadore, born in 1876, was a wealthy businessman and the family lived in a thirty-two room house on an estate in Rittergut-Starpel, two hours from Berlin, where they had an apartment. Annemarie had a brother Richard. In January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor and Germany was soon living under a Nazi dictatorship. Increasingly harsh legislation was passed to persecute the Jewish population. In 1936, a group of Nazi Party members came to the estate and took Isadore, who was home alone. Two days later, Annemarie and her family learned that he had been killed. Her mother Anne married again, to Leo Munter. On October 13, 1938, Annemarie, 18, married Egon Werner Israelski, 26, in a Berlin synagogue. Egon was born in 1912 to Anna Frankel Israelski (1889-1969) and businessman Hugo Israelski (1882-1950.) They lived with Annemarie’s mother in her large Berlin apartment. On November 9, 1938, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, the synagogue was destroyed and Jewish businesses and homes were vandalized. Soon afterwards, Gestapo blocked the entrance to their apartment building because it was Jewish owned. Eventually, Annemarie and her family were allowed to enter, but they decided it would be safer to move to a different building. Egon was selected for a forced labor camp in Neuendorf and Annemarie volunteered to go with him. They had their own room in the barracks, and Annemarie was in charge of making meals for the thirty-five men in the barracks. Egon dug potatoes and developed back problems and could not work. Annemarie was then sent to work at the Siemens factory in Gartenfeld. After she and Egon applied for visas to leave Germany, she was released from forced labor once she signed a paper saying that she would never reveal what she did there or she could be shot. The family wanted to go to the United States, but the immigration quot…
identifier: irn543250
has end date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1940-12-31
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn543242-irn543250/alternateIDs/1
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn543242-irn543250/acquisitions/1
scope and content: Passport holder with a Weimar eagle used by Annemarie Warschauer, 19, or a family member when they left Germany for Shanghai, China, in 1940. The Nazi regime took power in 1933 and anti-Jewish policies to persecute Jews became law. In 1936, a Nazi thugs took her father from their home and killed him. In 1938, Annemarie married Egon Israelski. A few weeks later Egon was assigned to a forced labor camp and Annemarie volunteered to go with him. When Egon was injured, she had to work in a factory. After they promised to leave Germany, they were released from labor service. Along with Annemarie's mother and her husband Leo Munter they went to Shanghai because it did not require visas. Life there was difficult and primitive. The city was liberated by US troops. In 1947, Annemarie, Egon, and their infant son left for America. Her parents could not get US visas and went to Brazil in 1951.
title: Leather passport holder with Weimar eagle used by German Jewish refugees
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Slightly used, rectangular, stippled black leather, bi-fold wallet with sewn edges. The interior has a vertical, 2 inch deep pocket on each side. There are 2 marks impressed in gold on the front cover: a Weimar era left facing eagle with outspread wings in the top left corner and the German word Reisepass [Passport] on the bottom right.
type: RecordSet
has or had holder: us-005578
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
is or was included in: us-005578-irn543242