Small yellow suitcase used by a young German Jewish girl on the Kindertransport

Identifier
irn72347
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2012.454.2
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • English
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 6.500 inches (16.51 cm) | Width: 18.125 inches (46.038 cm) | Depth: 12.750 inches (32.385 cm)

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Franziska (Ruth) Danzig was born on July 12, 1932, in Munich, Germany, the only child of Emanuel and Gerda Winter Danzig. Emanuel was born on July 29, 1895, in Munich. He served in the German Army during World War I. Gerda was born on May 17, 1903, to Solomon and Hedwig Sichel Winter in Wittelshofen, where the family had lived for centuries. Solomon, a cattle dealer, was born on August 29, 1871, in Wittelshofen, and Hedwig was born on February 6, 1874, in Butthart. Ruth’s mother had two older sisters: Frieda (Flora), born December 29, 1912; and Marta, born August 1, 1900; who married Samuel Bravmann, and had two children: Siegbert, born September 19, 1922, and Bianca, born April 15, 1928. Gerda and Emmanuel married circa 1931. The family lived in an apartment building across the street from the synagogue where Emanuel worked as a shammash, who, like a sexton, assists in the running of the synagogue. Ruth enjoyed a close, loving family life centered on the activities and services at the synagogue. After Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, governmental persecution of the Jews steadily increased. In 1937, Ruth’s Aunt Flora moved to Munich. An American cousin, Herbert Winter, agreed to sponsor her immigration to the United States. She Flora left on the S.S. Britannic from Le Havre, France, arriving in April 1938 in New York City. She worked as a housemaid, and saved her money in order to help her family leave Germany. In 1938, Ruth’s and her parents, and her extended family, moved to Munich. On November 9, 1938, the first night of the Kristallnacht pogrom, two Gestapo members ransacked their apartment and took their valuables. They ordered Ruth off the bed so they could flip the mattress and search for hidden items. They questioned Emanuel to make sure he had not kept any weapons from his military service. The following day, the Gestapo returned, took Emanuel away, and transported him to Dachau concentration camp. He was released on December 28, and returned home. He had been badly beaten and had sustained damage to his eyes. In early 1939, Ruth’s 11 year old cousin, Bianca, was sent to Great Britain on the Kindertransport [Children’s Transport.] Her family had found a Jewish family in London, the Moskowitz’s, to accept her as a foster child. Gerda and Emanuel asked them to find a Jewish family to sponsor Ruth and they suggested their friends, the Pasternaks. On June 26, 1939, Ruth left on a train to the Netherlands, where she boarded a ship to England. The Pasternaks met Ruth at the train station in London, but she was scared and refused to speak or eat until she saw Bianca. They enrolled Ruth at a Jewish school. On September 3, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Not long after this, Ruth, Bianca, and other London school children were evacuated to the countryside for safety. The students at Ruth’s school were sent to the town of Windsor, where their headmistress found them temporary homes with local families. Ruth was taken in by a wealthy, elderly widow named Mrs. Crisp. She was a spiritualist and medium and made Ruth participate in séances and use a spirit board every night. One day, Ruth upset her and Mrs. Crisp locked her in a bathroom. Bianca found out what had happened and reported Mrs. Crisp to the authorities. Ruth was moved to a second family, and then to a third family, which treated her very poorly. Ruth ran away from this family several times. In 1941, she got herself placed with a fourth family, the Hughes, who were very kind, always including her in family activities and making sure she had food, clothing, and time to study Hebrew. Ruth stayed with the Hughes family until November 1944, when her Aunt Flora, now married to Siegfried Frank, insisted that Ruth should live with her in the US. On November 8, Ruth boarded the SS Cavina in Liverpool and sailed to New York City via Halifax, Nova Scotia. Ruth lived with Flora, her husband Siegfried, a Jewish refugee from Germany, and their young son Steven. After the war ended in May 1945, Ruth, Flora, and Bianca were the only surviving family members. Ruth enrolled in public school and graduated on time. In July 1953, Uncle Siegfried died. Ruth attended college and became a dental assistant. In the early 1960’s, Ruth married her second husband, Abraham Rauch. She petitioned the German government for restitution, and finally found out what happened to her family. By 1942, Ruth’s maternal grandparents, Solomon and Hedwig, her Aunt Marta, Uncle Samuel, and cousin Siegbert, were living with Ruth’s parents, Gerda and Emanuel, in one apartment in Munich. On April 3, 1942, Emanuel and Gerda were deported to Piaski ghetto in Poland where they perished. On July 3, 1942, Solomon and Hedwig were deported to Theresienstadt labor camp-ghetto. Solomon died there on October 1, 1943. Hedwig was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau on May 18, 1944, and murdered. On July 11, 1942, Samuel, Marta, and Siegbert, Bianca’s family, were transported to an unknown destination and perished. Ruth’s husband died in August 1989. Ruth, age 78, died on March 29, 2011, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Archival History

The trunk was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012 by Steven Frank, the cousin of Ruth Danzig Rauch.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Steven Frank

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

Small yellow suitcase used by 6 year old Franziska (Ruth) Danzig when her parents, Gerda and Emanuel, sent her from Munich, Germany, to London, England, in June 1939, on the Kindertransport [Children’s Transport]. After Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the government actively persecuted the Jewish population. During Kristallnacht, on November 9-10, 1938, the family’s apartment was searched by the Gestapo. In spring 1939, Ruth’s cousin, Bianca, was sent on a Kindertransport to stay with a Jewish foster family in London. Ruth’s parent found a Jewish foster family, the Pasternacks, and Ruth was sent to stay with them. After Great Britain declared war on Germany that September, plans were made to evacuate people, especially children, from London due to the danger of aerial bombing. Ruth and Bianca were both sent to Windsor, where from fall 1939 until fall 1944, Ruth was boarded with several different host families. Ruth’s mother had a younger sister, Flora, in the United States and Ruth was sent to live with her in November 1944. Ruth's parents and her other family members were deported from Munich in 1942 to ghettos and concentration camps where they perished.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Small, rectangular suitcase with a wooden frame and base and a double hinged fiberboard lid covered with plastic coated, dark yellow weave patterned cloth. The edges are rounded and there is dark brown alligator patterned leather trim with offwhite stitching around the side edges and metal corner protectors. All the hardware is brass-colored metal. There are 2 key lock hasps on the lid front and 2 keyhole lock plates with a sliding release button on the base. Between the lock plates is a stiff, curved, dark brown leather handle looped around 2 rings attached to metal base plates. On the back corners are 4 metal foot studs. The interior is lined with faded black satinlike cloth wrapped around thin, flexible cardboard pieces glued into the case. Additional cloth covers the lid hinges. There are 3 gathered cloth pockets sewn to the sides and back of the base and 1 sewn to the lid. Three strips of frayed black ribbon are sewn into the seams on 1 side of the base. Manufacturing information is engraved on the hasps. The suitcase is stained and scratched.

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.