us-005578-irn571050-irn594874
has or had holder: us-005578
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn571050-irn594874/acquisitions/1
scope and content: Heart shaped leather charm with a small, rectangular, leather wrapped piece of paper, thin leather, or a portion of a Torah page reminiscent of a Mezuzah. It was made by prisoners in Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland, and worn on a camp issued wooden clog by Ilona Kellner (later Elena Kalina), while a prisoner at two camps between June 13, 1944 and April 25, 1945. 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. 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.
archival history: The leather decoration was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017 by Eva Moreimi, the daughter of Ilona (Elena) Kellner Kalinova.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn571050-irn594874/alternateIDs/1
is or was included in: us-005578-irn571050
title: Decorative leather charm owned by a female Hungarian Jewish slave laborer
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…
date: 1944 June 13-1944 July, 1944 June 13-1945 April 25
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Dark brown, textured leather, heart shaped ornament with two layers connected by a folded top edge and partially stitched together along the edges, with a small line of holes where the string is now missing. The v-shaped notch at the top is loosely stitched together and has smaller ornaments attached to it with a short length of twisted tan strings. At the end is a flat, leather rectangle with a pointed end and a rounded, rectangular, leather bundle stitched to the surface. Visible through a small, square window cut into the bundle’s face is tan paper with a black ink mark on it. Branching off the string is a knotted loop of brown string ending in a short, flat black plastic rectangle with pointed ends and a centered row of small holes. Intertwined among the string loops are multiple multi-colored threads. The strings are frayed and there is adhesive on one side of the heart.
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
type: RecordSet
identifier: irn594874
record resource extent: overall: Height: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm) | Width: 1.250 inches (3.175 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm)
has record set type: Item
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-camps/0
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-camps/107