us-005578-irn90327-irn2548
type: RecordSet
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: Five pointed red star with pin backing
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: approximately 1938-1945 April
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
history: Jakob Altaras (1918-2001) was born in Split, Croatia and was the youngest of six sons of Leon Altaras. His medical studies in Zagreb were interrupted by the war, and he joined the Partisan resistance movement in Croatia. He saved Torah portions and other sacred objects from the Split Synagogue when it was set on fire; he smuggled a group of 33 Jewish children from Croatia to safety in Villa Emma near Modena, Italy; he illegally entered the Rab (Arbe) concentration camp to smuggled out photographs which were later used by the Commission for War Crimes in Yugoslavia; and he served as a surgeon in hospitals for Jewish partisans in Bari, Italy. After the war, he completed his medical studies and practiced and taught medicine in Zagreb. Altaras was politically persecuted and forced to leave Croatia in 1964 when he began investigating the 1945 death of his brother Silvio Altaras at the hands of the communist regime of Yugoslavia. He worked in Zurich, Switzerland for two years before settling in Giessen, Germany, where he served as the president of the Jewish Community of Giessen.
history: The medal was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990 by the Jewish Community in Giessen.
identifier: irn2548
is or was included in: us-005578-irn90327
record resource extent: overall: | Diameter: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Political medal awarded for service in the partisan war and other military actions in Tito's army.
title: Political medal awarded for service in the partisan war and other military actions in Tito's army