Wooden sandals with a canvas strap worn by a Mir Yeshiva refugee in Shanghai
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)
- Lazar Horodetzky (Subject)
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
- Yeshivat Mir
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--China--Shanghai.
- Jewish refugees--China--Shanghai.
- Jews--China--Shanghai.
- World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Rescue--China--Shanghai.
Genre
- Dress Accessories
- Object