us-005578-irn610214-irn531114
type: RecordSet
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: Blackened iron medal in the form of a cross pattee with concave arms with a silver colored, reeded line border. The front has an embossed vertical design: at the top of the central arm is a crown, then the letters FW, a sprig of 3 oak leaves and 2 acorns, and, at the bottom, the date 1813. On the reverse descending from the top of the central arm is a crown, in the center a W, and, at the bottom, the date 1914. A bail with suspension ring is attached at the top.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
has beginning date: 1936-01-01
has beginning date: 1914-01-01
has end date: 1918-12-31
has end date: 1936-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
history: The medal was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015 by Marlyse Levy Kennedy, the daughter of Alfred and Meta Mayer Levy.
identifier: irn531114
is or was included in: us-005578-irn610214
record resource extent: overall: Height: 2.310 inches (5.867 cm) | Width: 1.750 inches (4.445 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: World War I Iron Cross medal awarded to Alfred Levy for his service in the German Army during the First World War (1914-1918). The medal was issued to him in Nazi Germany in 1936. Alfred, a judge, his wife Marie, and their children Marie-Louise and Theo moved from the Saar region when it voted to reunify with Germany in 1935. They resettled in Luxembourg which was occupied by Germany in May 1940. Restrictions were placed on the Jewish population to segregate them from other citizens and Marie-Louise, 15, had to leave school. In December 1940, the family was deported to Vichy France, and escaped the internment camps to live in Villefranche-de-Rouergue. In November 1942, after Germany occupied Vichy, a neighbor informed upon the Levy family. In 1943, Alfred was notified by the French resistance that he was in danger of arrest. He went into hiding, and was arrested while visiting his family, and then released with the help of a French police office. The entire family went into hiding until the region was liberated in fall 1944. In 1946, they returned to Saar.
title: World War I Iron Cross medal awarded to a Jewish German veteran