us-005578-irn73147
type: RecordSet
archival history: The ring was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Marcel Drimer and Irena Drimmer Wysoki, the nephew and niece of Bumek Gruber.
biographical history: Abraham (Bumek) Gruber was born to Osjasz and Sara Gruber, near or in Drohobycz, Poland (Drohobych, Ukraine). He had three siblings: Ryfka, born 1916, Josef, and Laura, born November 6, 1904. Laura married Jakub Drimmer in 1903 and had two children, Marcel, born May 1, 1904, and Irena (Mila) born July 4, 1936. Bumek was a butcher by trade. During the early 1930s he served in the Polish Army. Bumek married Blimka and they had a daughter Liba. Since the mid-19th century, the region had been the leading producer of oil for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the industry continued after the dissolution of the Empire following World War I (1914-1918). In September 1939, Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany. A few weeks later, the Soviet Union invaded from the east and under the terms of the German-Soviet Pact, this region fell under Soviet authority. German killing squads arrived in Drohobycz in early July 1941. During the ensuing pogrom, the Germans, assisted by local Ukrainians, murdered 400 Jews in the streets. Bumek’s father Osjasz was killed by Ukrainians during these attacks. In March 1942, the Germans forced the Jewish population of Drohobycz into a ghetto. Bumek’s mother Sara lived with his sister Laura and her two children and husband, as well as her mother-in-law, Sara Drimmer, and sister-in-law Ryfcia and her two children in one house. The Germans ordered all Jews to report for forced labor. Bumek was assigned to the oil refinery camp Galizien. His wife Blimka and daughter Liba also lived at the camp as protected family members of an essential worker. In August 1942, there was an Aktion in Drohobycz and all the people in Laura’s house, except Laura, the two children, and Jakub, were deported to Belzec killing center. Laura and the children had been at their prewar nanny’s house and escaped by hiding in a nearby field. Jakub was ordered by the Germans to stay at the lumberyard where he worked. In the late summer of 1943, the Germans took Bumek’s wife and child, and …
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Adjustable finger ring made of silver colored nickel alloy with a clear glass crystal with faceted edges resembling a round brilliant-cut diamond set in a claw pronged mount. Attached to the top of the shank under the setting is a concave, thin metal oval with a stamped floral design and scalloped edges. The shank is smooth and thin with a narrow teardrop cut out on each side.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
has beginning date: 1942-01-01
has beginning date: 1943-01-01
has end date: 1944-12-31
has end date: 1942-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn73147
record resource extent: overall: Height: 1.125 inches (2.858 cm) | Width: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm) | Depth: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Finger ring made by Abraham (Bumek) Gruber in 1942 using crystal and nickel to simulate a diamond ring. In 1943, Bumek was working as a butcher at the oil refinery camp Galizien in German occupied Poland with his wife Blimka and daughter Liba. That summer, the Germans took Blimka and Liba, and other Jewish families, and executed them in the Bronica forest. Bumek planned to give himself up in the next Aktion, but he met Tusia and her 4 year old daughter Fela and formed a bond that changed his mind. He decided to go into hiding with them in Mlynki Szkolnikowe, where his family had once lived. He went to the farm of Jan and Zofia Sawinski and offered them the ring in exchange for hiding him and his new family. When the Sawinski's wanted to sell the ring to buy livestock, Bumek told them it was a family heirloom and begged them to wait until after the war, when he would buy them a new cow. His sister Laura, with her husband Jakub and children, Marcel, 9, and Mila, 7, also were being hidden by the Sawinski's. During the winter, they hid in an underground dugout with six other Jews rescued by the Sawinski's. The Soviet Army liberated the region on August 7, 1944. Only about 600 Jews, from a population of nearly 50,000, were still alive.
title: Fake diamond ring bartered to save the life of a Jewish family