Embroidered brown velvet tallit pouch used by a Jewish immigrant
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 11.125 inches (28.258 cm) | Width: 8.375 inches (21.273 cm)
Creator(s)
- Samuel Eckstein (Subject)
Biographical History
Shlomo (Samuel) Eckstein was born about January 15, 1878, in Ratno, Russia (Ratne, Ukraine) to a Jewish family. He married Yetta (Yitke) Kwasznik on June 15, 1906. Yetta was born approximately June 26, 1885, in Ratno to a Jewish family. She had a younger brother Motel, born in 1888. A son, Edmund (Edward), was born in the fall of 1907. The next year, Samuel immigrated to the United States, sailing from Hamburg, Germany, and arriving in New York on May 25, 1908. He settled in Denver, Colorado. Yetta and Edmund joined him there in 1921. Yetta began to use the name Edna. Samuel was a laborer and eventually a driver with the Teamsters union. The couple had four more children: Rebecca, (April 16, 1913- September 12, 1971), Annie born 1915, Isadore, born 1918, and Abraham, born 1922. Rebecca (Betty) married Leo Veta and they adopted an infant girl and, in 1950, an infant boy, whom they named Samuel. Samuel’s biological mother, Ruth Haneman, had fled Nazi Germany with her family for Shanghai, China. Both her parents died in Shanghai in 1943, leaving sixteen year old Ruth responsible for her younger siblings. Samuel, age 68, died on March 9, 1946. Edna, age 92, died on January 12, 1977.
Archival History
The tallit bag was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012 by Samuel Veta, the son of Ruth Haneman and the grandson of Edna and Samuel Eckstein.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Samuel Veta
Scope and Content
Brown velvet tallit pouch with an embroidered Star of David and Hebrew text used by Samuel Eckstein, who immigrated to the United States from Ratno, Russia (Ratne, Ukraine) in 1908, and settled in Colorado. Tallit are prayer shawls worn by Jewish males durng services. Samuel was joined in 1912 by his wife, Edna (Yetta) Kwasznik Eckstein, and their young son.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Light brown velvet, faded and well worn tallit pouch with one open end with a flap closure, lined with white cloth. A Star of David with Hebrew text in the center is embroidered on the front in yellow thread. Velcro strips were later sewn on the interior and exterior of the opening.
front, center, embroidered, yellow thread : ח ־ ט ל (tallit)
Subjects
- Jews--United States--Biography.
- Immigrants--Russia--United States--Biography.
- United States--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century.
- Russia--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century.
Genre
- Jewish Art and Symbolism
- Object