us-005578-irn73430-irn88452
type: RecordSet
archival history: The brooch was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2014 by Werner and Inge Berg Katzenstein, the grandson-in-law and granddaughter of Clara Davids Berg.
biographical history: Clara Davids was born in 1865 in Krefeld, Germany, to Caroline Falkenstein Davids (1842-1909). Her family had lived in the area for centuries, and there were many relatives in the region. She had a sister, Rosalie (1870-1938), and six brothers, Max, Valentine, Moritz, Herman, David and ? Clara’s sister, Rosalie, married Michael Hermanns and had six children: Julius (1891-1942), Fritz, Sophie (1896-1942, Henrietta (1901-1986), and two sons who died in World War I (1914-1918). Around 1895, Clara married Max Berg, who was born in 1860 in Lechenich (Erfstadt), Germany, a small farming community near Cologne. He had a brother Jonas. His family had lived in the area since the 1600s. The family was Jewish Orthodox. Max was president of the local synagogue association, and his brother Jonas, who died during the 1920s, was cantor. The couple had two sons, Josef, born in 1896, and George, born in 1898, who worked with their father as cattle dealers. Josef married Klara Meyer, who was born November 13, 1904. Josef and Klara had two daughters, Inge, born on March 27, 1929, and Gisela, born on May 1, 1933. After Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in January 1933, antisemitic restrictions became increasingly harsh. Max had to arrange to have a non-Jew run his business. The family was warned by neighbors of the impending Kristallnacht pogrom of November 9-10, 1938, and moved into hiding in Cologne. Their seventeen room house was broken into and most of their belongings were destroyed. The following week, their two sons and a cousin, Ernest Berg, fled to the Netherlands to escape arrest and were imprisoned for illegal entry. Josef's brother-in-law, Herman Meyer, a resident of Holland, contacted a leader of the Jewish community in Rotterdam, Maurice Silversmit, and hired an attorney to secure them permission to remain. Max and the other family members decided to seek a country where they could relocate legally. Rosel Marx Berg, (b. February 20, 1911) wife of Karl (b. December 26, 18…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Thin, flat, rectangular, dark silver colored metal pin with a hammered left surface, a diagonal, ridged line, and raised initials C below a B applied to the right side. On the back is a hinged catch with a bent pin.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: after 1939 June-1945
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn88452
is or was included in: us-005578-irn73430
record resource extent: overall: Height: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm) | Width: 2.875 inches (7.303 cm) | Depth: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Handcrafted pin with the initials CB made for Clara Davids Berg, when the extended Berg family was living in Kenya after fleeing Cologne, Germany, in May/June 1939. The family had lived in nearby Lechenich for generations, but under the Nazi dictatorship, which took power in 1933, Jews were made outcasts from German society. The Berg's were warned by neighbors to leave their home prior to the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 9-10, 1938. Their houses were vandalized and the family decided to leave Germany. They wanted to stay together as a family and a friend got them permits for British ruled Kenya. Eventually 17 family members relocated to a cattle ranch near Nairobi. Clara's son-in-law Josef and his brother Georg arrived first in July 1939. Most of the family left from Genoa, Italy, that summer: Clara and her husband Max, Josef's wife Klara and daughters Inge, 10, and Gisela, 6, and their maternal grandmother and her sister; Sara Meyer Berg, and several other relatives. Clara and Max lived with Josef and his family. Clara and her husband Max both passed away in 1945. After the war ended in May 1945, the remaining family members emigrated to the United States.
title: Decorative pin with engraved initials CB made in Kenya for a Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany