us-005578-irn597414-irn616383
type: RecordSet
archival history: The set of buttons was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Joyce Cordi, the daughter of Leopold and Herta Stoer.
biographical history: Herta Schwarzbart (later Stoer, 1908-2007) was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, to Arthur (1875-1914) and Pauline Flesch (1873-1937) Schwarzbart. Arthur was born in Terezín, Austria-Hungary, to Alexander and Rosala Schwarzbart. Arthur had five siblings. Arthur’s mother died in the late 1890s, and his father later married Josephine, who had two sons. Pauline was born in Vienna, to Abraham and Johanna Ernst Flesch. Pauline had an older sister, Hermine or Minna (later Tischler, 1869-1943), and a younger brother, Samuel or Sammy. Pauline’s mother died in 1912, and her father later remarried. He had a son before dying in 1917. In 1895, 20-year-old Arthur was corresponding with Pauline while serving in the Austro-Hungarian army in Moravia. In 1900, Arthur and Pauline married in Vienna. Herta’s aunt Minna married, had two children, and ran a candy store. Herta’s Uncle Sammy was wounded during World War I, and died of complications in the 1930s. After Herta’s oldest sister, Hilda (1901-1942), was born, Arthur, worked briefly in Germany, while Pauline worked from home, sewing for a girdle factory. Herta had three other siblings: Friedrich (Fritz, 1902-1945), Gisela (Ella, 1904-1942), and Hansi (1913-?). Pauline taught Arthur how to sew and he began designing fancy petticoats. He would take orders from wholesalers, and then both he and Pauline would fill the orders at home. Their company grew to employ 125 additional seamstresses. Herta’s family lived very comfortably, with a hired maid and vacations at a resort in the Alps. World War I began in August 1914, and as a member of the peacetime army, Arthur was called up immediately. In November, Arthur was shot while fighting on the Russian front. He developed a tetanus infection and died. The war prevented Pauline from buying material for the business, and she was forced to close. With inadequate resources at home, 6-year-old Herta, Ella, Hansi, and Fritz were placed in an orphanage in early 1915. The children attended school a…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Forty-eight circular, handmade, white, twisted-thread buttons sewn to a thin, flexible, rectangular cardboard backing card in six close rows of eight buttons. Each button is a 1/2 inch in diameter and consists of a thin, die-cut metal support ring wrapped in a thick, raised ring of thread around the exterior with a tightly woven web of crisscrossing thread spokes across the center. On each button, there are several rows of woven stitches near the exterior, and a section of the spokes are pinched together and bound with crossed stitches in the middle. The cardboard is dark blue on the front, and light brown on the back. Adhered to the back and covering the knotted threads that secure the buttons, is an almost full-size, off-white paper label with German manufacturing information printed in blue and red ink, and text stamped in purple. The label has a decorative blue ink border and a trademark depicting a hand holding a twisted thread button at the top. The buttons are discolored. One button is loose and the overall cardboard is worn, with peeling along the front edges. back, bottom, stamped, purple ink : 20 C
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: approximately 1900-before 1939 February, 1939 February
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 2
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had subject: 2
has or had subject: 2030
has or had subject: 43
has or had subject: 433
has or had subject: 1976
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn616383
is or was included in: us-005578-irn597414
record resource extent: overall: Height: 2.875 inches (7.303 cm) | Width: 3.875 inches (9.843 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Unused set of handwoven buttons brought to the United States by Herta Schwarzbart Stoer when she emigrated from Vienna, Austria, in February 1939. The buttons were likely from one of Herta’s family member’s clothing businesses: either lingerie made by her parents, Arthur and Pauline, or children’s clothing made by her sister, Hilda. Herta lived in Vienna with her parents, and four siblings: Hilda, Fritz, Ella, and Hansi. In August 1914, Arthur was selected to fight in World War I, and three months later, he died of tetanus. As a result, Pauline closed the business, Hilda began making children’s clothing, and Fritz, Ella, Herta, and Hansi were sent to an orphanage. Herta was transferred to a boarding school for Jewish orphan girls, where she later returned as a teacher. In 1932, Hansi married and moved to Palestine. In early 1936, Herta began dating Leopold (Leo) Stoer. In June 1937, Pauline passed away. On March 13, 1938, Austria was annexed into Germany. Later that month, Herta and Leo married, but continued to live separately in Vienna. Leo immigrated to the US in September 1938, followed by Herta in February 1939. In September, the couple moved to California, where they began running a chicken farm to raise money to help their families immigrate. As World War II progressed, Herta and Leo lost contact with most family members. Herta later learned that her family members had been deported to concentration camps and killed in 1942 or 1943. Only her sister-in-law, Sidi, and nephew, Paul Schwarzbart, survived in hiding. Leo’s entire family had been deported to concentration camps and killed in 1942.
title: Card with 48 Dorset-style buttons owned by a Jewish Austrian refugee