us-005578-irn88116-irn3342
type: RecordSet
archival history: The tefillin was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990 by Nathan Katz, the son of Aharon Ben-Zion Katz.
biographical history: Aharon (Aron) Katz was born in September 1888 in Rietavas, Lithuania, to an Orthodox Jewish couple, Leib and Batsheva Saks Katz. In about 1911, Aron married Rachel Averbuch, who was born circa 1894 in Rietavas, to Eliahu Dov and Sara Bluma Averbuch. Both families had lived in Rietavas for generations. Aron served as an officer in the Russian Army in World War I (1914-1918). He was a translator and spoke Yiddish, Russian, Polish, and German. Aron was a tanner and owned a leather goods business. Aron and Rachel had four children: Hadasa, born 1915, Leib, born 1917, Nachman, born November 22, 1919, and Tamar, born ca. 1926. In 1934, for business reasons, Aron moved the family to Klaipeda, Lithuania, a port city on the German border. In 1935, Hadasa emigrated to Palestine. On March 23, 1939, Germany annexed Klaipeda, reclaiming territory separated by the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I. Nachman went to the theater near their house and saw Adolf Hitler on the balcony, giving a speech about liberating the German people. The family fled that day to Rietavas, then to Shavel (Siauliai). In June 1940, the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania. They nationalized businesses and outlawed religious organizations. Aron’s daughter Tamar, 14, an ardent Zionist, went to Palestine. Her mother Rachel was questioned about her, but she told them she did not know where Tamar went. Aron struggled to get work and eventually found a job as a night watchman. Nachman worked as a butcher in a meat factory. Nachman began dating Sima Blaufarb, who was born on September 26, 1923, in Eydtkuhnen (now Chemyshevskoye, Russia), to Rafael and Mery Mogiluker Blaufarb. In June 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union, including Lithuania. Aron, Rachel, their sons, and Nachman’s girlfriend Sima fled east on foot, following the retreating Soviet Army. Leib rode ahead on his bicycle and was separated from the family. Aron, Rachel, Nachman, and Sima were overrun by the German Army in Minsk. They were arr…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Tefillin with a square, black painted, leather box [batim]. The box is centered on a black painted, square, multilayered leather platform, sewn together with gut from kosher animals [giddin]. The platform has a triangular, notched back with an opening through which a long black painted leather strap [retzu’ot] is threaded. The underside of the strap is unfinished. The box should hold 1 or 4 parchment scrolls [parshiyot] inscribed with 4 Hebrew prayers.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: approximately 1900-1967
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: heb
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn3342
is or was included in: us-005578-irn88116
record resource extent: overall: Height: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Width: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Depth: 1.875 inches (4.763 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Tefillin worn by Aron Katz in Shavel [Siauliai] ghetto and in hiding in Lithuania from July 1941 to October 1944. Aron received the tefillin for his bar mitzvah circa 1900 and wore them every day for the rest of his life. Aron, wife Rachel, and children Leib and Nachman fled Shavel in June 1941, when Germany invaded. They went east with the retreating Soviet Army, until they were separated from Leib and overrun by the Germans. During the invasion, Lithuanians carried out pogroms and German mobile units, with Lithuanian auxiliaries, massacred thousands of Jews. The Katz family returned to Shavel, and, in July, were interned in the ghetto. Selections were frequent and Rachel was killed in September. In November 1943, after nearly 800 children and elderly people were killed, Aron, Nachman, and Nachman’s wife Sima escaped to the countryside where they hid with Aron’s sister Rochel Remen and her family. Several farm families hid them, but they had to move often as the Germans continually searched for hidden Jews. In October 1944, the region was liberated by Soviet forces. Leib was killed in 1943 while serving in the Soviet Army. In 1946, Aron, Nachman, and Sima got false papers and left Soviet ruled Lithuania. They lived in displaced persons camps in Germany until emigrating to Palestine and the United States.
title: Tefillin worn by a Lithuanian Jewish man in hiding