[Click the photo for a larger image. Opens in a new window.]

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.

[Click the photos for larger images. Opens in a new window.]

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.