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Name of the exhibit: Surviving Reminders

Submitted by: Dora Goldman

Origin of the object: I, Dora Goldman (nee Neumann), was born in Mako, Hungary in 1933. In June 1944, along with most Hungarian Jews, my family (my mother, my brother, and myself) were rounded up by the fascist Hungarian government and we were deported from our home. From the town of HĂłdmezövĂĄsĂĄrhely, through the city of Szeged, the train’s ultimate destination was Auschwitz.

Our lives were spared when the train tracks were bombed out, and the train had to change its route. It ended up in Strasshof, Austria. We spent almost a year in a lager (work-camp) in a small village called Tribuswinkel bei Baden in Austria.

After the war, we returned to Hungary.

My father had lost his life in a forced-labour camp on the Eastern Front.

Description:

1) Yellow Star
The yellow star was made by my mother in Hódmezövåsårhely, Hungary in March 1944. I had to wear this yellow star because I was born into a country and a time where anti-Semitism was not just an accepted social attitude, it was the law of the land. Every Jewish person in Hungary at that time had to wear it, as it was documented in following poem by Andras Mezei.

FROM AGE SIX ON by Andras Mezei

“Beginning on April the 5th
Every Jewish person over the age of six
—-without regard to gender—-
is obliged to wear a canary-yellow star
10x10cm in diameter, of cloth, silk or
velvet, clearly visible on the left chest.
The distinguished badge
has to be sewn on the garment
in a not easily removable way.
Non-compliance with the decree will be punished
by imprisonment of up to 6 months or internment.”

The decree marks the survivor to this day
in a not easily removable way.

Translated by: Marietta Morry

This decree followed me throughout my life.

2) Homespun bag from Hungary
Its date of origin is unknown. We carried our food in this bag throughout the Deportation. We were allowed to take three days of food supplies with us from the Ghetto.

3) Three buttons
The buttons are from Austria and were received in the winter of 1944-1945. A kind Austrian woman, named Anna, who worked with my mother in the work-camp, which was a suitcase factory, gave her a dress for me. She knew from my mother that we were in need of clothes as we had only been allowed to bring what was in our backpacks.
The dress is long gone, but I saved the buttons in memory of her kindness. The image on the buttons is the “edelweiss”, the flower of the Austrian mountains.

Voyage to Ottawa: I brought the yellow star, the homespun bag, and the buttons to Canada from Hungary in 1968.

Additional Information: András Mezei was an accomplished Jewish-Hungarian writer and poet. He survived the Holocaust as well as the three-month siege of Budapest. Throughout his long writing career, he returned repeatedly to the terrible experiences of his childhood; the voices of the Holocaust speak through Mezei’s verse.

Andras Mezei – “HATODIK ÉLETÉVTƐL” original poem in Hungarian

Andras Mezei – poetry in a newspaper

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Name of the exhibit: Leather Briefcase

Submitted by: Phil Emberley

Date of origin: 1932

Origin of the object: This briefcase was given to my father, Dieter Werner Eger by his parents, who later perished in the Holocaust. It was my father’s most treasured object as a child and he used it to take his books to school in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In approximately 1934, my father was no longer permitted to attend school by the local authorities due to his Jewish ethnicity. The bag was most likely made in Germany, and purchased in Frankfurt am Main. The year selected above is approximate, likely +/- one year.

Description: My father was saved during the Holocaust by the Kindertransport. He arrived in England in August, 1939. For travel purposes via the Kindertransport, he was allowed to carry only this piece of luggage. While the bag was a treasured object during his childhood years (likely the most expensive thing he owned) it took on a whole new symbolism to the trauma that he experienced during the Holocaust. All of his relatives perished, and all personal mementoes were lost except for this bag. There is an ink inscription inside the bag “WE”. As a child, he was referred to as Werner, his middle name.

Voyage to Ottawa: I have been in possession of this object since my father’s death in 2006. It will remain a family heirloom and poignant reminder of the Holocaust.

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Name of the exhibit: D’VĆŻr KrĂĄlovĂ© Scroll / Czech Torah

Submitted by: Temple Israel (on loan to Temple Israel from the Memorial Scrolls Trust)

Description: An excerpt from “Thus we remember: Continuing Story of our Holocaust Torah from the destroyed Jewish community of D’VĆŻr KrĂĄlovĂ©â€

REMARKS BY EVA WEISS NOSKOVÁ AT THE DEDICATION OF THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL
ON THE SITE OF THE DESTROYED SYNAGOGUE IN DVƼR KRÁLOVÉ NAD LABEM
FEBRUARY 16, 2008/10 ADAR I, 5768

In 1850, the first Jewish settlers arrived in DvĆŻr KrĂĄlovĂ©. No Jews had been allowed to live here before 1850. They began immediately to create a Jewish community. By 1885, they had built a cemetery and, in 1890, the synagogue, which was consecrated in 1891. They started to build the first textile factories for weaving, dyeing and printing cotton fabrics and jute. They achieved such great success in the textile industry that very soon our town was called the “Czech Manchester”.

The Jewish community was quite large. In 1910, there were more than 500 registered members. But by 1930, the number had fallen to 300. As had begun to happen around the country, the synagogue service, which had been in Hebrew and German, now started to be read in Hebrew and Czech, and the German Jewish families – unhappy with this change – moved to other places.

The Jewish families and their textile factories made the town a glorious place. DvĆŻr KrĂĄlovĂ© became widely known not only in Czechoslovakia but across Europe and overseas. But that was before 1938-1939. When Hitler occupied the Republic, all the Jewish factories were seized by the Germans and the Jewish shops were closed or “Aryanized.” The Jews were discriminated against and were no longer allowed to take part in the public life of the town. They had to wear a Jewish star, visible on their clothing, to show that they were Jewish. In the end, in 1941-1942, the Jews were dragged away to concentration camps: first to TerezĂ­n and then, after selection, to other camps – Oƛwięcim/Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Dachau, Buchenwald, Mauthausen and others. Most of them were murdered in gas chambers. The Jewish children were sent to the death camps with their parents. None of them survived. Only the mixed marriage families, who were deported to concentration camps in 1944-1945, survived the war.

The decline of the Jewish community of DvĆŻr KrĂĄlovĂ© started before World War II and continued after the war because only a few of the small number of Jews who survived came back home. And the survivors very soon decided to leave, to move abroad and start a new life in another country – Australia, England, Canada, the USA, Ireland. The continuity vanished.

The synagogue was demolished in the 1960s. Despite efforts, led by my father, to preserve the building and declare it a national monument, it was not possible to save it. The town leaders, Communists of course, decided to pull it down and a new road – this road in front of us – was built right through the site of the synagogue.

Our Jewish cemetery was vandalized and almost completely destroyed. Today there is only a small memorial, created out of a few remaining gravestones. It is a sad but interesting fact that the synagogue and the cemetery survived both world wars only to be destroyed by the Communist regime.

We are here today, standing on the site of the demolished synagogue, and now there is a Star of David memorial to commemorate all the Jewish citizens of DvƯr Krålové who once took part in the life of our town and were then murdered in concentration camps. Thank you to those who lit candles and brought flowers to the monument on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, and to all those who helped prepare for this day.

Finally, I am proud that I can say: Yes, I live among people who care about me and the fate of my community, and I hope that this site will stay a sacred place not only for today but forever.

Note: Five or, perhaps, six congregations are custodians of scrolls from DvƯr Krålové: Temple Sholom of West Essex, Beth El at the Wellington Jewish Community Centre in Wellington, New Zealand; Temple Beth El in Geneva, New York; Hillel at the Claremont Colleges, in Claremont, California; Temple Israel in Ottawa, Canada; and possibly Western Marble Arch Synagogue in London, United Kingdom.

Additional Information: Click to read the full story “Thus we remember: Continuing Story of our Holocaust Torah from the destroyed Jewish community of D’VĆŻr KrĂĄlovĂ©”.

Voyage to Ottawa: The scroll is on loan at Temple Israel from the Memorial Scrolls Trust.

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Name of the exhibit: Records from the Ottawa Jewish Archives

Submitted by: The Ottawa Jewish Archives

Date of origin: 1940’s

Origin of the object: N/A

Description: Exhibit consists of textual records brought to Canada by Hans Reiche, Arie van Mansum, and Holocaust survivors Erwin and Edie Koranyi. It includes correspondence and identification cards.

Voyage to Ottawa: Arie Van Mansum was born in Holland in 1920, and participated in the Dutch Resistance Movement. He distributed an underground resistance newspaper and assisted in finding safe passage for Jewish refugees. He immigrated to Ottawa with his wife in 1958 and died in 1999.

Hans Reiche was born in Berlin in 1914. He was a Physics professor, and an associate of Albert Einstein, Otto Hahn, and Niels Bohr. In 1940, Reiche fled to Canada, but was detained in an immigration camp as an immigrant of German origin. In 1942, with the intervention of Albert Einstein to the Canadian government, he was released. Reiche died in 2000.

Erwin Koranyi was born in Budapest in 1924, and was one of the estimated 100,000 Jews rescued by the Swedish diplomat Raul Wallenberg. Wallenberg issued Koranyi a special passport, declaring its holder a protectorate of the Swedish government. With this passport, Raul avoided wearing the yellow star, and was able to move to Sweden. After the war, Koranyi came to Ottawa, where he married Edie Rosenbaum, a fellow Holocaust survivor who was also from Budapest. Erwin passed away in 2012.

To listen to Erwin Koranyi’s testimonial click on the following link (bottom of the page):
/ches/ottawa-holocaust-survivors-testimonials/full-length/#1

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Name of the exhibit: Jewish Refugee Life in Shanghai – Family of Rabbi S. Robert Morais

Submitted by: Rabbi Rob Morais

Date of origin: 1940’s

Description: An estimated 20-25,0000 Jews fled to Shanghai from the beginning of Nazi persecution of Jews in 1933 until late in 1941. These refugees usually immigrated to Shanghai as families. Stripped of most of their assets before fleeing, the refugees swarmed into Hongkew (a poor section of Shanghai) because they could not afford to live anywhere else in the city. Following the Japanese takeover of Shanghai, Honkew was established as a Jewish and Foreigner’s ghetto. This is where the Handke family lived from 1941-1948.
Because Armando Salinas held Italian citizenship, he was allowed to live outside the Ghetto with his new wife Eva Handke and their daughter born in Aug of 1943. In October of 1943 they were arrested by the Japanese and imprisoned in a Japanese enemy alien concentration camp in inner China. They remained there living in very poor conditions until the camp was liberated by the American Army.
The Jacket, prayer book and book of bible passages were among relief packages that the US Air Force dropped into the camp. Included in the relief packages were much need food and medicines that saved many lives until the US army arrived.

Voyage to Ottawa: The entire Salinas and Handke families immigrated to Canada in 1948 as refugees fleeing communist China.

From left: Fritz Handke, Eva Salinas, Liliana Salinas, Kate Handke and Armando Salinas Shanghai, 1946.

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Name of the exhibit: The Sprechers of Cologne

Submitted by: Marlene Wolinsky

Date of origin: March 7, 2018

Origin of the object: This book is a compilation of records and personal accounts relating to my father and his families struggles as German Jews living in Cologne Germany. It is a collaboration by the second generation of holocaust survivors to remember and record our family history.

Description: This book contains historical documents, family letters, official records (deportation, expulsion, death notices), family photos and first-hand accounts of the treatment of Jews in Germany from 1936, prior to the war until 1944. It tells of the painful road of survivors during and after the war and their struggles to create a new life in Canada, England and Israel.

Voyage to Ottawa: The records within this volume were sourced from Germany, England, the United States, Israel and Montreal. It was published in the USA and then distributed to members of the Sprecher family at a reunion of first and second cousins and grandchildren in Toronto in June 2018.

The following are some pertinent documents and correspondence from this book, which chronicle Arnold and his brothers’ journey from Germany to England to Halifax and on to Sherbrooke, Quebec. They provide timelines and correspondence with Refugee Organizations that assisted them to escape from Germany and eventually settle in Canada.

Letter from National Refugee Service to Arnold Sprecher (May 9, 1941)
Letter from Arnold Sprecher to National Refugee Service (May 17, 1941)
Letter from National Refugee Service to Sprecher family (June 9, 1941)
Letter to Arnold Sprecher from London Jewish Refugees Committee (June 4, 1941)
Jewish Refugee Committee Statement (June 19, 1941)
Letter from Dominion Clothing Mfg. Co. (June 12, 1942)
Letter to Dominion Clothing Mfg. Co. (June 18, 1942)
Refugee Status card
“Ettrick” ticket (July 3, 1940)
Camp “N” Release Dates
1942 Montreal Article “Regains Citizenship Lost For Two Years”
Reference Letter for Arnold Sprecher from the Department of National Defence (July 4, 1942)

Arnold Sprecher (click to enlarge)

Arnold and Herman in Cologne (click to enlarge)

Book excerpt (click to enlarge)

Final book excerpt (click to enlarge)

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Name of the exhibit: Wooden Guitar

Submitted by: Marlene Wolinsky

Date of origin: January 25, 1942

Origin of the object: The wooden instrument was hand crafted by Arnold Sprecher when he was interned at Camp “N” in Sherbrooke, Quebec between April 1941 and July 7, 1942.

Description: The guitar was hand made by Arnold Sprecher when he was detained at the Sherbrooke internment camp. It is painted with faces on its lower part and painted with black trim. The neck is all original as well as the strings.

Voyage to Ottawa: The wooden guitar was taken with Arnold Sprecher to Ottawa and then to Montreal, following his release from the Sherbrooke internment camp on July 7, 1942.

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Name of the exhibit: Arnold Sprecher’s Dancing Wooden Puppet

Submitted by: Marlene Wolinsky

Date of origin: February 22, 1939

Origin of the object: The wooden dancing puppet was carved by Arnold Sprecher while he was detained at Dachau concentration camp.

Description: The puppet and board are carved from wood. The doll’s arms and legs are hinged and the wood is painted black. The board that the puppet dances on is painted with black and red circles. This puppet was created during the period of time (1938-1939) when Arnold Sprecher, along with his brothers Herman (Herschel) and Simon who worked in Cologne as tailors, were picked up by the S.S. and taken to the Dachau concentration camp. It’s was carved at the camp.

Voyage to Ottawa: My father, Arnold Sprecher, took it with him when he escaped from Cologne, Germany and travelled with it as he journeyed to England, Halifax, Sherbrooke Quebec’ s internment camp, Ottawa and Montreal where he lived from 1943-2005.

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Name of the exhibit: Photos of Relatives

Submitted by: Elliot

Date of origin: Unknown

Origin of the object: Kolomiyya, Ukraine; Minsk, Russia

Description: These photos are of my late great-grandmother and my late grandfather. They were both affected by the Holocaust in different ways, even though they lived in North America at the time.

Voyage to Ottawa: Unknown

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Name of the exhibit: Stamps and Coins

Submitted by: Elliot

Date of origin: October 27, 1940 and October 6, 2018

Origin of the object:
Stamps: Eastern Europe (Nazi-occupied territory, and Poland)
Coins: Poland, Nazi Germany and Vichy (collaborationist) France

Description:
Stamps: I found these stamps in the basement of a relative. My late great-grandmother would talk about how she used to get letters from friends and family back in Poland and Russia. One day, the letters stopped coming.
Coins: One of the coins (the 2-Zloty) from Poland was given to me when my late uncle-in-law was telling me stories about people who he knew who perished during the Holocaust.

Voyage to Ottawa:
Stamps: Letters were sent to Ottawa in 1940.
Coins: Coins were from my great-uncle-in-law from Poland.