us-005578-irn83921-irn1268
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…
has or had holder: us-005578
is or was included in: us-005578-irn83921
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
title: Small blank wooden tile made by a former Jewish Czech concentration camp inmate
scope and content: Small, blank wooden ornament made by Jiri Lauscher, who was an inmate of Theresienstadt, the German name for Terezin, ghetto-labor camp from December 1942 - May 1945. Jiri's woodworking skill got him assigned to the camp technical department. Jiri was from Prague which Germany invaded in March 1939 and annexed into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Due to the Nazi regime's anti-Jewish policies, Jiri was fired from his job. That September, Germany invaded neighboring Poland. In September 1941, Heydrich, SS chief of Reich security, became Reich Protector and soon there were daily deportations of Jews to concentration camps. In July, Jiri's parents, Anna and Julius, were deported, and in September, his brother Frantisek. In December 1942, Jiri, 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. In late October 1944, Jiri was waiting for his assigned transport train, when an SS guard asked for men to repair a roof. Jiri volunteered and the train left before the roof was finished. These were the last trains sent to Auschwitz. 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.
type: RecordSet
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn83921-irn1268/alternateIDs/1
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn83921-irn1268/acquisitions/1
archival history: The wooden ornament was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1989 by Jiri Lauscher.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
record resource extent: overall: Height: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Width: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm)
identifier: irn1268
has record set type: Item
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Small, finely sanded, light golden brown wooden square tile, blank, with rounded corners and a rectangular tab with a cut out slot at the top. One side is scratched and marked with pencil.