Wooden sandals with a canvas strap worn by a Mir Yeshiva refugee in Shanghai

Identifier
irn43116
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2010.464.2 a-b
Dates
1 Jan 1941 - 31 Dec 1945
Level of Description
Item
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

a: Height: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Width: 4.625 inches (11.748 cm) | Depth: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm)

b: Height: 2.125 inches (5.398 cm) | Width: 5.250 inches (13.335 cm) | Depth: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm)

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Lazar Horodetzky (Lejzer Borodeski ?) was a member of the Mir Yeshiva, a Jewish religious school based in Mir, Poland (Belarus). Shortly after Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, the Soviet Union occupied eastern Poland, where Mir was located, under the terms of the German-Soviet Pact. Realizing that their religious studies would be forbidden under the Communists, yeshiva students left on October 15 for Vilna (Vilnius), Lithuania. After the Soviets occupied Lithuania in August 1940, the yeshiva members decided to escape again to Shanghai, China. They managed to get travel visas to Japan from the Japanese consul in Kovno, Chiune Sugihara. Soviet exit visas were extremely hard to obtain and each member had to go for an interview with the NKVD, the Soviet secret police. In January-February 1941, they traveled on the Trans-Siberian railroad to the Soviet port of Vladivostok, and from there, sailed to Japan. As they did not have visas for further travel, the refugees were not permitted to stay in Japan. They were considered stateless and deported to Shanghai in Japanese-occupied China. They settled in the Hongkew ghetto and continued their studies, gathering in the Beth Aharon Synagogue which had been built by a wealthy member of Shanghai’s Sephardic Jewish community. The Mir Yeshiva was the only eastern European yeshiva to survive the Holocaust intact. On September 3, 1945, Shanghai was liberated by American forces. After the war, the Mir refugees emigrated to Palestine and to the United States, assisted by the Mirrer Yeshivah in Brooklyn, New York.

Archival History

The sandals were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2010 by Judith Kranzler.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Judith Kranzler

Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Scope and Content

Wooden sandals worn by Lazar Horodetzky in Hongkew ghetto in Shanghai, China, from 1941-1945. Lazar was a member of Mir Yeshiva, a Jewish religious school which left Mir, Poland (Belarus) after the Soviet occupation in September 1939. They first moved to Vilna (Vilnius), Lithuania. When it was occupied by the Soviets in August 1940, they fled again, after obtaining Japanese transit visas from consul Chiune Sugihara. In spring 1941, they reached Japan, where they were declared stateless refugees and deported to Japanese occupied Shanghai. They settled in Hongkew and resumed their studies. The city was liberated by US troops on September 3, 1945. Mir Yeshiva was the only eastern European yeshiva to survive the Holocaust intact. The yeshiva members immigrated to Palestine and to the United States, assisted by the Mirrer Yeshivah in New York.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

a. Flat, wooden shoe sole with a low heel; it narrows in the center and has rounded ends. A worn, inch wide, cloth strap with folded ends is nailed with 2 nails to each side near one end. The strap is made of light brown canvas sewn to webbed binding tape; 2 straps have been sewn together with x-like stitches on one side. b. Flat, wooden shoe sole with a low heel; it narrows in the center and has rounded ends. A worn, inch wide, cloth strap with folded ends is nailed with 2 nails to each side near one end. The strap is made of light brown canvas sewn to webbed binding tape; 2 straps have been sewn together with x-like stitches on one side.

Corporate Bodies

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.