us-005578-irn623819-irn625668
type: RecordSet
archival history: The document case was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017 by Gary Loy, the son of Fred and Lola Stern Loy.
biographical history: Irma Karola (Lola) Stern (later Loy, 1923-2003) was born in Redwitz an der Rodach to Hugo (1891-1965) and Käthe Gutmann (1900-1995) Stern. Hugo was born in Mulhouse, and had four sisters, including Elli, Erna, and Frieda. Käthe was also born in Redwitz, and had one brother and one sister. Lola had one younger sister, Lisa (later Basch, 1932-2016). Irma often used her nickname, Lola. Her mother’s family had lived in Redwitz for several generations, and ran a rattan furniture business. Her father, Hugo, was a proud World War I veteran, who had been awarded an Iron Cross medal after being wounded. He worked as an insurance agent, and as a merchant. The family later settled in Nordhausen, and lived comfortably. The family as assimilated and spoke German at home, but did celebrate the high holidays. On January 30, 1933, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, and the Nazi regime passed legislation to disenfranchise the Jewish population. In 1937, when Lola was 14, she was expelled from school for being Jewish. She worked with an English tutor and briefly attended a private business school, until the Jewish proprietor was forced to close it. In mid-November 1937, Lola’s parents sent her to live with the Haas family, a Jewish family in Konigshofen im Grabfeld, where she learned about store management. She was with them until mid-May 1938, when the family was forced to give up their business and home. That October, Lola’s parents sent her to Frankfurt, where her paternal aunts, Erna and Frieda, lived. Lola’s young age prevented her from training as a nurse, so she worked as a domestic servant in the nurse’s home associated with the Jewish hospital. Lola’s parents wanted to leave Germany and applied for visas to whatever countries were accepting Jews. Although Käthe’s brother in New York City gave the family had an affidavit of support for the US, the large number of other refugees meant their quota number was too high to be called upon in the next year or two. On November 8, 1…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Rectangular, soft-sided, bi-fold document case with a slightly-padded, red cloth cover textured to resemble leather. The cover has a rounded spine and corners, and the cloth wraps around the thin edges to the interior. The cloth is sewn along the inner edges of the case with red thread, forming a narrow border. Shiny, brown cloth resembling moiré silk, lines the interior and forms two, full-height inner pockets. Each pocket consists of multiple layers of cloth stitched together with brown thread to form an approximately three-inch wide rectangular panel. The panel is sewn onto the cover along the exterior long and bottom sides, creating a slide pocket. A company name is impressed in gold-colored, Fraktur-style font on the lower right corner of the front cover. Overall, the cover of the case is heavily worn, scuffed, and stained from use. The textured, exterior surface has been worn away in several areas to reveal the weave of the underlying cloth, and the gold coloring has worn away from much of the lettering. There is a large stain on the back and several smaller stains on the front and interior.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1939-01-01
has end date: 1947-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had subject: 43
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn625668
is or was included in: us-005578-irn623819
record resource extent: overall: Height: 8.125 inches (20.638 cm) | Width: 5.250 inches (13.335 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Red document case used by Lola Stern (later Loy) and her family while emigrating from Germany in 1939 and Shanghai, China, in 1947. The case bears the name of a German insurance company and was likely acquired by Lola’s father, Hugo Stern, through his work as an insurance agent. After Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933, Lola was expelled from her school for being Jewish. To learn some work skills, she moved away from her parents, Hugo and Käthe Stern, and younger sister, Lisa, in Nordhausen. On November 8, 1938, during Kristallnacht, Lola was living in Frankfurt am Main as a domestic servant in a nurse’s house and helped care for those injured during the attacks. While in Erfurt on business, Hugo was arrested, beaten, and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. The Nordhausen Gestapo held Käthe and Lisa overnight in the police station. After four weeks, Hugo was released and told he had six months to leave Germany. In March 1939, Hugo acquired tickets aboard the MS Victoria bound for Japanese-controlled Shanghai, China. In late April, the Stern family traveled to Genoa, Italy, where they boarded the ship. After a month-long journey, the Sterns arrived in Shanghai, where they received assistance from Jewish aide organizations. The family settled into a small apartment, Lola found work as a waitress, Hugo sold second-hand clothing, and Lisa returned to school. In May 1943, the Japanese forced stateless refugees, like the Sterns, into a closed ghetto in Hongkew. In May 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allies, though frequent air raids continued in Shanghai until Japan’s surrender in August. Most of the family’s relatives in Europe perished in the Holocaust. The Stern family immigrated to the US in May 1947.
title: Document case owned by a German Jewish refugee in the Shanghai Ghetto