us-005578-irn555278-irn562522
type: RecordSet
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: a. Hand tefillin with a square, black painted, leather box (batim) with smooth sides. The box is centered on a black painted, square, multi-layered leather platform, which is sewn together with gut from kosher animals (giddin). A black leather strap (retzu’ot) with an unfinished underside is threaded through a triangular notch on the back of the platform. The bottom layer of the platform is translucent, through which a parchment scroll (parshiyot) inscribed with four Hebrew prayers is visible. b. Small, hollow, cube-shaped, removable cardboard cover for a tefillin. The exterior has light green paper squares adhered to the sides. The green paper on each side of the cube has a black printed design of a Star of David, Hebrew text, and two roses, surrounded by a border of small circles. The surface of the paper is worn along the edges. The interior is lined with a light blue, fuzzy, coarse weave fabric, now stained. The cover is for hand tefillin (a). c. Head tefillin with a square, black painted, leather box (batim) constructed of four leather panels with an embossed Hebrew letter Shin on the left and right sides; the right Shin has four strokes, the left has three. The box is centered on a black painted, square, multi-layered leather platform sewn together with gut from kosher animals (giddin). A black leather strap (retzu’ot) with an unfinished underside is threaded through a triangular notch on the back of the platform. The bottom layer of the platform is translucent, through which four parchment scrolls (parshiyot) inscribed with Hebrew prayers are visible. d. Rectangular, red velvet pouch with a stiff, brass-colored woven metal drawstring closure at the top. A Star of David with Hebrew text in the center and a swag of leaves underneath is embroidered on the front with yellow thread. A piece of blue and white upholstery trim is sewn on the bottom of the pouch at the front. The interior of the pouch is lined with a shiny, tan fabric. The trim at the bottom is heavil…
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: after 1937-1939 May
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: heb
has or had subject: 819
has record set type: Item
history: Ilse Brilling (1927-2016) was born to Hedwig (nee, Finkenstein, 1891-1959) and Isidor (1895-1939) Brilling in Rastenburg, Germany (now Kętrzyn, Poland). Hedwig was born in Molthainen, East Prussia (now Mołtajny, Poland), and had four brothers and three sisters. Isidor was also born in East Prussia, and had at least two brothers and six sisters. Following World War I, Isidor received an iron cross for his service in the German army. He began selling raw materials, such as furs and metals, which he grew into a successful business with employees. Ilse had one sister, Hildegard or Hilde (later Baum, 1923-2010), whom she was not close to as a child. The family lived a comfortable lifestyle in a two-bedroom apartment above stores that they rented out. They also had two maids and a car, which they used often to visit her paternal grandmother. As a child, Ilse was extremely shy and very close to her mother, but had a distant relationship with her father. Although Rastenburg was a small town, it had a large Jewish congregation. Hedwig prepared a big Shabbat dinner every week, and Ilse would often help her in the kitchen. Ilse’s parents regularly entertained friends in their home, and one year hosted a Christmas and Hanukkah party for their employees. On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Anti-Jewish decrees were passed that restricted every aspect of Jewish life. Almost immediately, the 117 Jews in Rastenburg were barred from movie theaters, swimming pools, and businesses, including the stores Ilse’s parents rented out. Ilse lost her only friend, a girl from a gentile family who joined the Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls), a Nazi girls’ group. On November 9, 1938, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, stores run by Jews were destroyed and their synagogues were burned down. Isidor was arrested by the SS and imprisoned in Mitgeten. A relative living in the United States sent him an affidavit, which Hedwig took along with the Iron Cross …
history: The set of tefillin was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by Ruth Abraham, the daughter of Ilse and Horst Abraham.
identifier: irn562522
is or was included in: us-005578-irn555278
record resource extent: a: Height: 1.250 inches (3.175 cm) | Width: 4.500 inches (11.43 cm) | Depth: 6.500 inches (16.51 cm) b: Height: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) | Width: 4.500 inches (11.43 cm) | Depth: 4.000 inches (10.16 cm) c: Height: 8.250 inches (20.955 cm) | Width: 6.000 inches (15.24 cm) | Depth: 0.375 inches (0.953 cm) d: Height: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm) | Width: 1.125 inches (2.858 cm) | Depth: 1.125 inches (2.858 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: A pair of tefillin and pouch owned by a male member of Ilse Brilling or Horst Abraham’s family, and carried from Germany to Ecuador in the late 1930s. Tefillin are small boxes containing prayers attached to leather straps and worn by Orthodox Jewish males during morning prayers. Following Adolf Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor of Germany in January 1933, anti-Jewish decrees and persecution made life in Germany increasingly difficult. Horst Abraham immigrated to Quito, Ecuador, from Leipzig, Germany, in 1937, after hearing a rumor that he might be arrested. His parents, Nanette and David, and one of his two brothers, Kurt, joined him there later. In 1939, Ilse Brilling left Rastenburg, Germany and immigrated to Chambo, Ecuador with her parents, Hedwig and Isidor, and older sister, Hilde. Ilse’s father died that same year, and the family moved twice before settling in Quito in 1942, where she met Horst. The couple married on March 3, 1944, and had their first child in 1946. Ilse, Horst, and their other family members living in Ecuador immigrated to the United States in the mid-to-late 1940s and settled in the New York City area. Horst changed his name to Harry, and got a job working in a meatpacking factory owned by his distant relatives. Many members of their extended families were not able to escape from Europe and died during the Holocaust.
title: Pair of tefillin and pouch owned by a German Jewish man