us-005578-irn571050-irn594873
type: RecordSet
archival history: The embossed pin was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017 by Eva Moreimi, the daughter of Ilona (Elena) Kellner Kalinova.
biographical history: Ilona Kellner (later Elena Kalina, 1912-2011, some records list her year of birth as 1916) was born in Pelsöc, Austria-Hungary (now Plešivec, Slovakia) to Karoly (1887–1944) and Jolan Freimann (1890-1944) Kellner. Ilona had one younger sister, Vera (1927 -2017, some records list her year of birth as 1922). Karoly was a merchant. Ilona was unmarried and worked as a kindergarten teacher in Rožňava. Following World War I, Pelsöc had become part of Czechoslovakia, and became a part of Hungary in approximately 1938. During the 1930s, Hungary was an ally of Nazi Germany, and in 1938, Hungary’s fascist regime adopted anti-Semitic measures based on the German Nuremberg racial laws. In November 1940, Hungary joined the Axis Alliance, and participated in Operation Barbarossa, the June 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union. After the German retreat from Stalingrad in February 1943, Hungary sought a separate peace with the Allies. In March 1944, Germany invaded Hungary and began deporting all Hungarian Jews to concentration camps. On May 8, 1944, the authorities forced Ilona, Vera, and their parents, Karoly and Jolan, from their home and moved them into a ghetto that had been set aside in another area of the town. In mid-June, the family, was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in German occupied Poland. Their parents were taken to the gas chambers in the camp’s killing center, Birkenau, and killed upon arrival. By August 2, Ilona and Vera had been deported to Hessisch Lichtenau, a sub-camp of Buchenwald concentration camp as part of a transport of 1,000 Hungarian women brought to Germany to fill a labor shortage. On September 19, Ilona and Vera were officially registered at the camp, and were assigned prisoner numbers: Ilona was assigned 20409, and Vera 20407. All of the women in this transport were assigned numbers, by last name, between 20,001 and 21,003. The camp provided labor for an explosive munitions factory run by Fabrik Hessisch Lichtenau GmbH zur Verwertung c…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Circular, silver colored metal pin with a gray-blue painted, faintly stippled surface. Silver colored German text identifying a chemical factory is embossed between two narrow raised silver rings around the edge and the unadorned center. On the smooth, discolored back, a broken, horizontal safety clasp is soldered to the center beneath a thin plate. The pin is slightly warped and the upper half of the clasp is missing. The lower front edge is corroded, the paint is flaking off the center, and the metal is tarnished throughout.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1944 August 02-1945 March
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had subject: 0
has or had subject: 107
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn594873
is or was included in: us-005578-irn571050
record resource extent: overall: | Depth: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm) | Diameter: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Metal pin with the name of the Hessisch Lichtenau factory acquired by Ilona Kellner (later Elena Kalina) while imprisoned in Hessisch Lichtenau forced labor camp in Germany, from August 2, 1944 to March 1945. She received the pin because she worked as a translator and messenger in the camp. During the 1930s, Ilona worked as a kindergarten teacher in Rožňava, and lived in Pelsöc, in what was Czechoslovakia until 1938, when it became part of Hungary (now Plešivec, Slovakia.) Her parents, Karoly and Jolan, and younger sister, Vera, also lived there. In 1938, Hungary’s fascist regime adopted anti-Semitic measures based upon the Nuremberg racial laws in Germany. In November 1940, Hungary joined the Axis Alliance. In March 1944, Germany invaded Hungary and began deporting all Hungarian Jews to concentration camps. On May 8, 1944, the authorities forced Ilona, Vera, and their parents, Karoly and Jolan, from their home and moved them into a ghetto that had been set aside in another area of the town. In mid-June, the family, was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in German occupied Poland. Their parents were taken to the gas chambers in the camp’s killing center, Birkenau, and killed upon arrival. By August 2, Ilona and Vera had been deported to Hessisch Lichtenau, a sub-camp of Buchenwald concentration camp as part of a transport of 1,000 Hungarian women brought to Germany to fill a labor shortage. On September 19, Ilona and Vera were officially registered at the camp, and issued prisoner patches. The women worked in an explosive munitions factory run by Fabrik Hessisch Lichtenau GmbH. In late March 1945, the camp was evacuated and the women were taken to Leipzig by train. From there, they were sent on a forced march to Wurzen, where they were liberated by US forces on April 25.
title: Circular metal pin owned by a female Hungarian Jewish slave laborer