us-005578-irn78346-irn4412
type: RecordSet
archival history: The Star of David badge was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1991 by Fritz P. Gluckstein.
biographical history: Fritz Gluckstein was born on January 24, 1927, in Berlin, Germany, to a Jewish father and a Christian mother, Georg and Hedwig Gluckstein. His father, born in 1886 in Oranienburg, was a municipal court judge and a decorated veteran of World War I. Hedwig was born in 1892 in Breslau. Fritz was raised as a Jew, and the family attended a liberal synagogue. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Jews soon were prohibited from holding public office and his father was dismissed from his position. He went to work as a legal advisor for the Jewish community. The family endured severe financial hardship. Under Nazi racial laws, Fritz was Mischlinge [mixed race] and a non-protected Geltungsjude, a counted Jew, subject to all the restrictions imposed on the Jews of Germany. After the November 9-10, 1938, Kristallnacht pogrom, state sponsored anti-Jewish acts became more common, and even more so after the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. All valuables and many other belongings, including their pet dog, were confiscated, and their food rations allowed no meat or milk. Fritz left his public school because of increasing antisemitism and enrolled in a Jewish school. Jews were barred from many public places and activities. Hedwig's Gentile sister, Elfriede Dressler, provided the family with extra food and supplies, sneaking them to the family at night. Elfriede often looked after Fritz and they had a prepared story for when they went outside. If they were stopped, Elfriede would say that she was returning from the store and made this Jewish boy carry her things home. Fritz had a normal bar mitzvah in 1940, receiving Mark Twain books as a gift. In his late teens, Fritz registered for military duty, but was rejected because he was a Jew. By 1942, many Jews were being deported to labor camps and to ghettos in Poland. Friends disappeared and the benches in his school got emptier and, in 1942, his school closed. Fritz was put in the forced labor service…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Bright yellow cloth badge in the shape of a 6 pointed Star of David. The star outline is formed from 2 overlapping, dyed triangles and has, Jude, German for Jew, in a pseudo-Hebrew font in the center. The badge has been cut out from a sheet with several stars and has a narrow border of frayed cloth around the star outline, with visible cutting guide marks. It was not worn.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: after 1941 September-before 1945 April
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: deu
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn4412
is or was included in: us-005578-irn78346
record resource extent: overall: Height: 4.500 inches (11.43 cm) | Width: 3.875 inches (9.843 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Star of David badge preprared for but never worn by Fritz Gluckstein, circa 1941-1945, in Berlin, Germany. On September 1941, the Nazi regime issued a decree that Jews must wear Judenstern at all times to mark them as outcasts from German society. Fritz's Hebrew class discussed the meaning, embarrassment, and consequences, such as arrest, if caught without it, and what to do if they were attacked. The badge had to be sewn tightly on the left and officials would use pencils to try to get behind the star. Fritz was the son of a Jewish father and a Christian mother, Georg and Hedwig. After Hitler came to power in January 1933, Jews were prohibited from holding public office. Fritz's father, a prominent judge, was dismissed. Under Nazi racial laws, Fritz was a counted Jew, subject to all restrictions. His maternal aunt, Elfriede Dressler provided the family with extra food and supplies. In 1942, Fritz's Jewish school was closed and he was put into the forced labor service. On February 27, 1943, Fritz and his father were arrested during the Factory Action to round up the remaining Jews of Berlin. He was held in a building on Rosenstrasse with about 2000 other husbands and children of non-Jewish women. The family members demonstrated and demanded the release of their loved ones who they feared would be deported and killed. It was the only public demonstration against the Nazi regime to take place in Germany, and the detainees were released. Fritz and his father worked in a forced labor gang until the war ended on May 7, 1945. Fritz resumed his studies and, in 1948, immigrated to the US. His parents remained in Berlin where his father served as chairman of the new Jewish community's assembly of representatives.
title: Unused Star of David badge with Jude issued to a German Jewish youth