us-005578-irn83921-irn1260
type: RecordSet
archival history: The brooch was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1989 by Jiri Lauscher.
biographical history: Jiri Lauscher was born on September 14, 1901, to Jewish parents Siegfried and Anna Schwarz Lauscher near Prague, Austro-Hungary (Czech Republic). His father Siegfried was born in the mid-1800s. His mother Anna was born on August 22, 1876, in Pribram, to Jakob and Leonora Schwarz. Jiri had two siblings: Frantisek, born October 12, 1899, and Josefina, born in 1906. The empire collapsed at the end of World War I (1914-1818) and Prague was part of the newly independent Czechoslovak Republic. Jiri’s father Siegfried died and his mother married Julius Katz, (1874-1942). Jiri was a Zionist and at some point, went to Palestine and lived there for a while before returning to Prague. Jiri, an artisan and designer, was the technical director of a fur factory. He married Irma Kohn, born May 2, 1904, to Ruzena Kohn. Irma was a dedicated teacher and graduate of Charles University where she studied German. She taught children at the Jewish School in Prague. Jiri and Irma’s daughter, Michaela, was born on December 30, 1936. On September 29, 1938, Nazi Germany annexed the Sudetenland border region of Czechoslovakia. On March 15, 1939, Germany annexed the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia, where Prague was located, ruled by a Reich Protector. Other regions were absorbed by German allies and Czechoslovakia ceased to exist. Jews were banned from most professions and organizations. Jiri was fired from his factory directorship. He was a talented woodworker and got a job in a carpenter’s workshop, which made toys and other crafts. Jewish children were expelled from public schools and Irma worked two shifts at the now very overcrowded Jewish School. Jewish life was restricted. There were curfews, few shops would serve Jews, and Jews could shop only a few hours a day. Jiri and his family were kicked out of their apartment so a German officer could live there. They had to move to an old house shared with three other families; each family allotted only a single room. Radios and all valua…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: .1 Rectangular, discolored copper colored metal brooch with a cut out design of a large domed, high walled, stone fortress. There is a square tower with a pointed roof behind the wall and a raised walkway along the front. In front of the walkway’s support arches is an open space with small trees and a narrow path or body of water. To the right is a tall, leafy tree. To the left is a large corner of the building. The area above the building is cut out to resemble the sky and clouds. The pin back has a swing hinge. .2 Folded, light brown, partial, preprinted paper form with German text in purple ink. There is a small, detailed, black ink drawing, 1.375X2.500, of a large, high walled fortress with a square tower and a raised walkway in front, similar to the pin (.2). Several columns of numbers are penciled on the back. The inside of the paper has mimeographed columns with German headings: Haben [Have], Stand [Stall], Blatt [Sheet], Kontas. There is also a small drawing inside.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1943-01-01
has end date: 1943-12-31
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: irn1260
is or was included in: us-005578-irn83921
record resource extent: 1: Height: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Width: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Depth: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm) 2: Height: 4.000 inches (10.16 cm) | Width: 5.125 inches (13.018 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Copper metal brooch pinned to paper with a sketch of the pin preserved by Jiri Lauscher. The pin was made at Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp and has a cutout design of the Small Fortress gate as seen from the east. Jiri was an inmate of Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp from December 1942 - May 1945. His woodworking skill got him assigned to the camp technical department. Jiri was from Prague which was invaded in March 1939 by Germany. Jiri was fired from his job because he was Jewish. In September 1941, Heydrich, the SS chief of Reich security, became Reich Protector and soon there were almost daily deportations of Jews to concentration camps. In December 1942, Jiri, wife Irma, and daughter Michaela, 5, were sent to Theresienstadt. Jiri became part of a closeknit group of artists at the camp. Irma taught Jewish traditions in the secret classes held for children. Around late October 1944, Jiri was waiting for the transport train to Auschwitz, when an SS guard asked for men to repair a roof. Jiri volunteered and the train, one of the last transports to Auschwitz, left before the roof was finished. The camp was taken over by the Red Cross on May 2, 1945. The war ended when Germany surrendered May 7. Jiri and his family returned to Prague in June. Most of their relatives were killed in German concentration camps.
title: Pin with a cutout image of the Small Fortress gate at Terezin pinned to paper made by a camp inmate