us-005578-irn564043-irn564916
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn564043-irn564916/alternateIDs/1
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
physical characteristics and technical requirements: a. Lightweight, rectangular, light brown wooden sandal with a V-shaped cloth thong (hanao) and a flat, half-inch thick rounded base (dai) resting on two 1 ¼ inch high, full-width rectangular blocks or teeth (ha). The base and teeth are carved from a single piece of wood and are finished and smoothed to accentuate the natural grain. The well-worn thong consists of two layers of cloth sewn together to form a thick, padded band: a threadbare upper layer of textured golden-yellow material and a lower layer of off-white material with a raised, red geometric pattern. The thong is attached to the base by three holes, one centered near the front and two in front of the back tooth. At the front, the thong passes through a thin loop of the same red-patterned cloth protruding from the hole and then angles back to be inserted through the back holes. The ends of the thong and loop are reinforced on the underside with knotted twine to hold them in place. The surface of the base is discolored and lightly stained from use, with heavier accretions and stains on the sides. The teeth have several small cracks and stains, as well as pitting on the underside and worn edges from repeated use. There is a small metal nail in the bottom of the back tooth and some losses around the back holes on the underside of the base. b. Lightweight, rectangular, light brown wooden sandal with a V-shaped cloth thong (hanao) and a flat, half-inch thick rounded base (dai) resting on two 1 ¼ inch high, full-width rectangular blocks or teeth (ha). The base and teeth are carved from a single piece of wood and are finished and smoothed to accentuate the natural grain. The well-worn thong consists of two layers of cloth sewn together to form a thick, padded band: a threadbare upper layer of textured golden-yellow material and a lower layer of off-white material with a raised, red geometric pattern. The thong is attached to the base by three holes, one centered near the front and two in front of the back tooth. …
has record set type: Item
is or was included in: us-005578-irn564043
date: 1941 February-1941 October
identifier: irn564916
biographical history: Sara Kupinski (later Cohen, 1932- ?) was born in Vilna (Wilno), Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania) to Eliasz (Eli, 1897-?) and Slawa (1902-?) Tsigelnitsky (Cegelnicki) Kupinski. Sara’s younger brother, Hirsz (b. 1933, later Hirsh Kupinsky), was born in Lida, Poland (now Belarus). Eli was born in Lida to Nathan and Lotte Kupinski, and had a brother named Samuel (1906-?.) Slawa was born to Pesach Tsigelnitsky and his first wife, who died shortly after Slawa’s birth. Slawa had an older brother, Chaim. Pesach later married Malka, his wife’s sister, and they had a son, Manya. The family lived in Vilna, and Pesach worked as a harness maker and saddler supplying Polish Cavalry units. Slawa completed her schooling and graduated from the local university. Later, Slawa married Eli. In March 1935, Eli, Samuel, and Jakob Radunski bought a large tract of land outside of Lida so they could ship lumber to England. They also sold milk and cheese to the Polish Air Force. When Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland, in September 1939, the Kupinski family was living on Eli’s land. Though Vilna was returned to Lithuania, Lida and the surrounding area fell under Soviet control, becoming part of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. As landowners, Eli and Samuel, were classified as wealthy capitalists and had to flee just after the invasion. They went to live with Slawa’s parents, Pesach and Malka, in Vilna. Later that fall, Slawa, Sara, and Hirsz were smuggled across the border and joined Eli and Samuel in Vilna. On June 15, 1940, the Soviet Union invaded Lithuania, and later annexed it. Soviet exit visas were now required to escape from Europe via the eastern route to Asia, one of the two remaining ways for Jews to leave. In order to acquire an exit visa from Soviet-controlled Lithuania, Sara’s family needed two visas: a Japanese transit visa, and a visa for another country, money, and transport to continue on to that country. In summer 1940, Samuel and Eli travelled to Kovno (…
record resource extent: a: Height: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm) | Width: 3.750 inches (9.525 cm) | Depth: 8.500 inches (21.59 cm) b: Height: 2.375 inches (6.033 cm) | Width: 3.625 inches (9.208 cm) | Depth: 8.500 inches (21.59 cm)
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
title: Pair of Japanese geta owned by a Lithuanian Jewish refugee in the Shanghai Ghetto
scope and content: Pair of wooden geta with fabric thongs acquired by Sara Kupinski’s (later Cohen) family in Kobe, Japan, where her family fled using Japanese and Dutch transit visas supplied by diplomats in Soviet-occupied Kovno, (Kaunas), Lithuania. Sara lived outside of Lida, Poland (now Belarus) with her parents, Eliasz and Slawa, brother, Hirsz, and uncle, Samuel. Following Germany and the Soviet Union’s invasion of Poland in September 1939, Eli and Samuel fled to Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania) because they were considered wealthy landowners. Slawa, Hirsz, and Sara later joined them. Having obtained their transit visas in August 1940, Sara’s family left later that year, traveling on the Trans-Siberian railway from Moscow to Vladivostock. In early 1941, they took a boat to Kobe, Japan. That fall, they were forced to go to Japanese-controlled Shanghai. Samuel and Eli found work at a Jewish import and export company, and Sara and Hirsz attended the Jewish school. In early 1943, Japanese authorities ordered that all stateless refugees must live within a designated area, which came to be known as the Shanghai or Hongkew ghetto. In the summer of 1945, following the German surrender in May, US forces bombed Shanghai heavily. On August 14, Japan surrendered to the US. The Kupinski family learned that Slawa’s brothers had survived in France, but that her parents were killed in the Vilna ghetto in 1942 or 1943. Eli’s parents likely died in Siberia. In 1949, the family settled in Toronto, Canada.
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn564043-irn564916/acquisitions/1
type: RecordSet
archival history: The pair of geta were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017 by Lynda Cohen, the daughter of Sara Kupinski Cohen.
has or had holder: us-005578