us-005578-irn597340-irn628045
type: RecordSet
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: a. Can of Klim powdered milk repurposed into a kettle. The body of the kettle is a cylindrical can. Soldered on one side of the can near the base is a thin sheet of silver-colored metal which is wrapped into the shape of a spout with a wide base and narrow tip. Soldered on the opposite side of the can are two thin, flat pieces of metal, one at the top and one at the bottom. They extend out and arch into a hollow triangular piece of metal that widens at the bottom and then pinches closed at the top, creating a handle. The exterior of the can is colored yellow, except for the seam which is uncolored, revealing the silver-colored metal. The exterior has evenly spaced burgundy, yellow, and cream-colored labels with English and French text printed on the surface. The bottom of the can is silver-colored and has embossed text. The interior of the can is a shiny, silver color. There are several holes punched through near the bottom where the spout is attached. Across the top on the same side as the spout, a thin, flat, semi-circular piece of shiny silver metal is soldered around the rim creating a lip. The spout, handle, and bottom of the can are heavily scratched and discolored. b. Circular, silver-colored, metal lid to a kettle (a) made from a Klim powdered milk can. The lid extends down slightly on the sides and has yellow, burgundy, and cream coloring on it from the design on the can. A thin piece of metal is soldered onto the top of the lid at both ends creating a handle. There are two small holes punched through the top of the lid on opposite sides. The top of the lid is heavily scratched and discolored. The underside of the lid is a shiny silver color, and slightly rusted around the edges.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1942 September-1944 September
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: fra
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had subject: 1982
has record set type: Item
history: Leonie Berthe Roualet (1900-1978) was born in Hammondsport, New York to Leonie (née Calmesse, 1869-1942) and Henry Charles Roualet (1866-?). Leonie and Henry were both originally from France, where they worked as champagne vintners. They immigrated to New York in 1890, where they continued to work as wine merchants. Leonie Berthe was raised Catholic and had two older brothers, Georges (George, 1891-1951) and Andre (Andrew, 1894-1973), and one older sister, Henriette (1898-1969). Georges served in the U.S. Navy during World War I aboard the USS Wisconsin. After the war, the entire family moved from New York to Cleveland, Ohio. In the 1930s, Leonie’s mother, Leonie Calmesse Roualet, returned to France to take care of her ailing brother. While caring for her brother, she too became sick, and in 1939 Leonie traveled to France to take care of her mother and her uncle. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and two days later France and Britain declared war on Germany, officially starting World War II. In May 1940, Germany invaded France and occupied the northern half of the country. Leonie’s sister, Henriette, began to worry about the fate of her mother and sister as she struggled to contact them, and she wrote repeatedly to the U.S. State Department for information on their whereabouts. In November, she received a telegram stating that her mother was in a hospital in Bordeaux, while her sister was living with their uncle in Épernay. On December 11, 1941, four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Germany declared war on the United States. Following this declaration, German authorities began arresting American citizens in their occupied territories with the hope that they could exchange them with German citizens interned abroad. On September 24, 1942, the Gestapo arrested Leonie as an enemy alien and sent her to a prison in Châlons. From there she was transferred to Frontstalag 194 in the Vittel internment camp. In Vittel, Leonie lived in hotel-like acco…
history: The kettle was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Mark Roualet, great nephew of Leonie Roualet.
identifier: irn628045
is or was included in: us-005578-irn597340
record resource extent: a: Height: 4.000 inches (10.16 cm) | Width: 9.000 inches (22.86 cm) | Depth: 4.250 inches (10.795 cm) b: Height: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm) | Diameter: 4.250 inches (10.795 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Can of Klim powdered milk repurposed as a kettle and used by Leonie Roualet, while she was interned in Vittel internment camp in German-occupied France from September 1942 through September 1944. Leonie was born in New York to Leonie Calmesse and Henry Charles Roualet, French champagne vintners who had immigrated to the United States in the 1890s. In the 1930s, Leonie’s mother returned to France to take care of her ailing brother. While caring for her brother, she too became sick, and in 1939 Leonie traveled to France to take care of her mother and her uncle. In May 1940, Germany invaded France and occupied the northern half of the country. Leonie’s sister, Henriette, began to worry about the fate of her mother and sister as she struggled to contact them, and she wrote repeatedly to the U.S. State Department for information on their whereabouts. In November, she received a telegram stating that her mother was in a hospital in Bordeaux, while Leonie was living with their uncle in Épernay. On September 24, 1942, the Gestapo arrested Leonie as an enemy alien and sent her to a prison in Châlons. From there she was transferred to Frontstalag 194 in Vittel. She remained there for two years until the camp was liberated by Free French forces on September 12, 1944. Immediately following liberation, Leonie worked for the Red Cross and helped establish the first displaced persons (DP) camp in Paris. In December 1945, Leonie returned to the United States, accompanying a convoy of refugees at the request of the American Embassy.
title: Kettle made from a can of Klim powdered milk and used by an American internee