us-005578-irn555278-irn562523
type: RecordSet
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: Long, rectangular, shiny off-white cloth shawl with symmetrical sets of blue stripes and tzittzit on each end. The ends have a wide blue, central stripe flanked by two blue pinstripes and a set of eight narrow blue stripes on each side, alternating with white. The edge of each end has a row of several strings that have been folded over, threaded through holes, and knotted in multiple places to create a crisscrossing fringe. Each corner is backed with a reinforcing square of off-white fabric and a turquoise embroidered design. The patch has a floral frame surrounding an unrolled scroll with a line of Hebrew text, a crown, a line of large Hebrew text with a Star of David in the center, an open book flanked by floral bouquets, and a small line of Hebrew text at the bottom. In the middle of the Star of David, a hole is cut through both layers and reinforced with thread stitching. Threaded through each hole is a tzitzit, an intricately knotted tassel formed from several folded and bundled strings. The long, unhemmed edges are finished with a blanket stitch. Centered along one of these edges is a white brocade atarah [neck band], a rectangular ribbon with pointed ends, embroidered with white Hebrew text. The corner threads are frayed, and the edges, tassels, and fringe are lightly soiled. The turquoise thread has bled its color, heavily staining the corner patches and leaving smaller stains all over the tallit. There are brown stains on the back of the atarah, and the off-white fabric has overall discoloration.
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: The tallit were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by Ruth Abraham, the daughter of Ilse and Horst Abraham.
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 …
identifier: irn562523
is or was included in: us-005578-irn555278
record resource extent: overall: Height: 16.075 inches (40.831 cm) | Width: 60.750 inches (154.305 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: A tallit owned by a male member of Ilse Brilling or Horst Abraham’s family, and carried from Germany to Ecuador in the late 1930s. A tallit is a specialized shawl 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 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 to Quito, where she met Horst. The couple married on March 3, 1944, and they 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: Tallit owned by a German Jewish man