Beige and orange embroidered linen napkin used in the Warsaw ghetto

Identifier
irn42148
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2008.228.3
Dates
1 Jan 1937 - 31 Dec 1947, 1 Jan 1937 - 31 Dec 1937
Level of Description
Item
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 11.375 inches (28.893 cm) | Width: 10.750 inches (27.305 cm)

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Irena de Tour was born in 1924 in Warsaw, Poland, the daughter of Seweryn Ehrlich vel Sluszny and Felicja Lubelczyk Ehrlich. She had a younger sister, Danuta, born in 1929. Irena attended the Perla Lbinska Gimnazjum. In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Irena and her family were confined to the Warsaw ghetto in November 1940, where she worked in an Electropol factory. Irena escaped the ghetto to the Christian section of Warsaw in March 1943 and acquired false documents and work as a maid. Following the suppression of the Warsaw ghetto uprising that year, Irena was sent to a slave labor camp in Berlin, along with her aunt. She was assigned to work in the Schwartzkopf ammunition factory. In September 1944, Irena joined the underground resistance - building barricades, organizing shelters, and working for the Red Cross. After the war ended in May 1945, Irena walked to Warsaw to search for family members. Her father had died in the Warsaw ghetto uprising. But she found her mother and sister and, together, they were placed in Bindermichl displaced persons camp in Linz, Austria. Irena worked for the United Nations Refugee Relief Agency (UNRRA) as an interpreter and secretary. In 1947, the family emigrated to the United States on the SS Marine Perch and settled in New York City. Irena graduated from Hunter College in 1956. She has two children and runs an antique business in Connecticut.

Archival History

The napkin was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2008 by Irena Urdang de Tour, the daughter of Felicia and Seweryn Ehrlich vel Sluszny.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Irena Urdang deTour

Scope and Content

Napkin made by Irena Ehrlich vel Sluszny, at her school, Perla Lubbinska Gymnasium, in Warsaw, Poland in 1937. Irena, her parents, Felicia and Seweryn, and younger sister, Danuta, were confined to the Warsaw ghetto in 1940. In March 1943, 19 year old Irena escaped to the Christian sector of Warsaw. April 1943 brought the Warsaw ghetto uprising and its violent suppression by the Germans, with mass deportations of all Jews in Warsaw and the annihilation of the ghetto. Her father, aged 39, was killed during the uprising. Her mother and 14 year old sister escaped and were hidden for the rest of the war by Juana Dylag. Irena was deported to a slave labor camp in Berlin. Felicia, Danuta, and Irena were reunited in Warsaw after the war. From 1945-1947, they were in the Bindermichl displaced persons camp in Linz, Austria. They emigrated to the United States on the SS Marine Perch in 1947.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Beige linen napkin with a sewn orange finish. The border had a raw edge. There is embroidered decoration of a blue grid pattern, intercepted with orange flowers.

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.