Baruch Knaster (1905-2001) was born on March 10, 1905 in Łódź, Poland. He married Brucha Mandelcare and they had three children Schul, Schmiel, and Chana Knaster. Brucha Knaster and the children perished in the Holocaust. Baruch Knaster was deported to three forced labor camps. He was imprisoned in Auschwitz and Mauthausen concentration camps. He was liberated from Mauthausen concentration camp. After the war, Baruch Knaster met Cila in a displaced persons camp and they married on August 20, 1946. Their daughter, Mirka Knaster, was born on May 11, 1947 in a DP camp in Bari, Italy. Their second daughter is Rebecca Knaster. The Knaster family immigrated to the United States aboard the SS Marine Jumper, arriving on November 21, 1949. Baruch Knaster died in 2001. Cila Knaster died on December 20, 2007. Cila Knaster (1908-2007) was born Esther Cila Hausman on December 22, 1908 in Jasionowka, Poland. In 1942, Cila’s mother Merka Levine Hausman (1883-1942), her husband Jossel Radzi (Yossl Radzi, 1909-1942), and their two children Razel Radzi (1935-1942) and Sholomas Radzi (1939-1942) were taken away and likely shot by Nazis. Cila Knaster survived the Holocaust. After the war, Cila met Baruch Knaster in a displaced persons camp and they married on August 20, 1946. Their daughter, Mirka Knaster, was born on May 11, 1947 in a DP camp in Bari, Italy. Their second daughter is Rebecca Knaster. The Knaster family immigrated to the United States aboard the SS Marine Jumper, arriving on November 21, 1949. Baruch Knaster died in 2001. Cila Knaster died on December 20, 2007.
Lightweight, rectangular, light brown, paper-coated cardboard suitcase with a hinged lid and wooden handle. The case is stitched together with thick, tan thread, and a light brown leather bumper is riveted to each corner. There are three butterfly-style hinges along the back, and two lock plates with corresponding hasps on the front, one to either side of the handle. The right hasp is now missing, and there is a third hasp centered beneath the handle. The threads have pulled loose in several places and the surface coating is peeling away from the cardboard throughout.
No restrictions on use
The suitcase was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017 by Rebecca Knaster, the daughter of Baruch and Cila Knaster.
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Lightweight, cardboard valise carried by Cila Hausman Knaster and her husband Baruch Knaster when they, and their oldest daughter, Mirka Knaster, immigrated to the United States in November 1949. Cila and Baruch's families perished during the Holocaust. He was imprisoned in Auschwitz concentration camp, and Mauthausen concentration camp, where he was later liberated. The couple met in a displaced persons camp and married in August 1946. Their daughter, Mirka, was born in May 1947, in a DP camp in Bari, Italy.
overall: Height: 7.000 inches (17.78 cm) | Width: 23.000 inches (58.42 cm) | Depth: 16.500 inches (41.91 cm)
Lightweight valise used by Cila and Baruch Knaster when they immigrated