us-005578-irn717169-irn717165
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn717169-irn717165/alternateIDs/1
archival history: The handkerchief was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2002 by George Fogelson, the son of Hilde Anker.
is or was included in: us-005578-irn717169
scope and content: The handkerchief was carried by Hilde Anker (later Fogelson) on a Kindertransport from Berlin, Germany, to England in June 1939. Hilde and her sister, Eva, were placed on the transport on June 12. On the way, the transport stopped in Bremen, and the sisters sent their parents, Georg and Gertrude Anker, a postcard.
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Square-shaped, brick-red, lightweight cloth handkerchief with a striped white border of parallel lines around a repeating floral pattern in the center. The identical flowers, five-lobed with a dark center and a short leafy stem, are laid out in a six-by-seven grid. The edges of the handkerchief are neatly hemmed with white thread, and a small, rectangular, white cloth patch with the owner's name stitched in red, uppercase letters, is sewn to the lower, back right corner. There are several small holes and losses in the upper left and lower right corners.
title: Handkerchief carried by Hilde Anker on a Kindertransport
has or had holder: us-005578
identifier: irn717165
date: 1939 June
record resource extent: overall: Height: 10.625 inches (26.988 cm) | Width: 10.500 inches (26.67 cm)
biographical history: Hilde Lotte Anker was born on May 29, 1926, in Berlin, Germany, to Georg Jakob Willie Anker and Gertrud Gottschalk Anker. She had two older sisters: Eva Kate, born June 6, 1922, and Dodi Grete, born May 9, 1924. Hilde’s father Georg was born on May 15, 1885, in Danzig, to Simon and Henrietta Anker. Simon founded a successful grain import-export business in 1877 and was prominent in the Jewish community. Georg had eleven siblings, including Arthur, Leo, Heinrich, and Paul. Georg served as an officer in the German Army in World War I (1914-1918). He moved to Berlin in 1921 and opened a men’s clothing manufacturing business. Hilde’s mother Gertrud was born on March 24, 1894, in Schlawe, to Hugo and Bertha Wolffberg Gottschalk. Hugo operated a grain mill that had been in the family since 1873. Gertrud had three siblings: Bruno, born July 3, 1890, Kaethe, born October 14, 1892, and Nanny, born March 13, 1888. Bruno, a law student, died on February 10, 1911, of pneumonia. Nanny and her husband Arthur Lewin had two children, Ludwig and Ursel (Ursula). Kaethe converted to Protestantism to marry Max Knipfer and the couple had one son, Guenther. On May 15, 1921, Georg and Gertrud married. The family was prosperous and cultured. In January 1933, Hitler came to power in Germany. Berlin seemed to change overnight. The next day, Hilde saw uniformed Nazis posting signs in the windows of Jewish shops, discouraging people from shopping there. One of their neighbors was a Nazi and forbid her daughter from playing with Hilde. After Hilde’s maternal grandfather Hugo died on July 31, 1934, her grandmother Bertha and aunt Nanny moved to an apartment across the street. Hilde’s paternal grandfather Simon died in 1935. In approximately 1936, Hilde, 10, applied to the public secondary school that her older sisters attended. She passed the entrance exam, but was dened admission because she was Jewish. Hilde attended the Goldschmidt school, a Jewish school in the Berlin suburbs that opened in …
type: RecordSet
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
has record set type: Item