Brown leather pouch brought with a Jewish Hungarian refugee
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 4.500 inches (11.43 cm) | Width: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm)
Creator(s)
- Paul Zilczer (Subject)
Biographical History
Paul Zilczer was born on August 30, 1908, in Budapest, Hungary, to a Jewish couple. He graduated from college and worked as a physicist. Paul married Margit Gelyi, a young Jewish woman, and the couple settled in Budapest. Margit was born on June 19, 1907, in Gyor, Hungary, to Tibor and Vilma Winkler Gelyi. During the 1930’s, Hungary was an ally of Nazi Germany, and in 1938, Hungary’s fascist regime adopted anti-Jewish race laws based on Germany’s Nuremberg Laws. In 1939, the Hungarian government established a forced-labor service for able-bodied Jewish men of military age. Paul and Margit travelled to England in 1939. On May 17, Paul boarded the S.S. Manhattan in Southampton, England, and sailed to New York City, where he lived with his cousin Emil and his family. Margit travelled to several places in Europe, including London, England, and Paris, France, before returning to Budapest. In November 1940, Hungary entered World War II as part of the Axis alliance. In March 1944, Germany invaded Hungary to ensure Hungary's continued involvement with the war effort and their cooperation in the deportation of all Hungarian Jews to concentration camps. On January 18, 1945, the Soviet Army liberated Budapest. The war in Europe ended on May 7, 1945. In 1946, Paul learned that Margit, 37, had been deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp in northern Germany on October 23, 1944, and killed in November. Paul married his second wife, Rose (1917-2011), in approximately 1947. The couple settled in Waterbury, Connecticut, and had two daughters. Paul worked as a research physicist. Paul, age 65, died in November 1973, in Arlington, Virginia.
Archival History
The pouch was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Janet Zilczer and Judith Zilczer, the daughters of Paul Zilczer.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Janet Zilczer and Judith Zilczer
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
Brown leather pouch brought with Paul Zilczer when he left Budapest, Hungary, for the United States, in May 1939. Paul, a physicist, and his wife Margit lived in Budapest, when in 1938, the fascist Hungarian government passed laws restricting the rights of Jews. In 1939, Paul and Margit both traveled to England. On May 17, Paul sailed to New York City where he lived with his cousin Emil and his family. Margit returned to Budapest. In November 1940, Hungary entered World War II as a German ally. In March 1944, Germany invaded Hungary to ensure Hungary's continued involvement with the war effort and their cooperation in the deportation of all Hungarian Jews to concentration camps. Margit was deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany and killed in November 1944.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Small, stiff, brown leather pouch with a curved top flap. The flap folds over the top to half way down the front and has a rough edged, circular hole from a missing snap socket. There is a silver-colored metal snap stud near the top edge of the front panel, beneath the hole. The pouch is made from a single piece of folded leather with the long sides stitched together. Decorative lines are impressed along the top front edge and the flap. The interior is unfinished leather. The pouch is worn and discolored from use.
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--United States--New York--Personal narratives.
- Physicists--Hungary--Biography.
- United States--Emigration and immigration--Biography.
- Jewish refugees--United States--Biography.
- Hungary--Emigration and immigration--Biography.
Genre
- Object
- Containers