Torah breastplate recovered postwar from the site of the destroyed synagogue in Grodno
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 8.500 inches (21.59 cm) | Width: 6.890 inches (17.501 cm) | Depth: 0.240 inches (0.61 cm)
Archival History
The Torah breastplate was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1991 by the Grodno Survivors Association.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Grodno Survivors Association
Scope and Content
Found by Solomon Zukowski, post WWII, Grodno, Poland. Given to Dr. Felix Zandman who brought them to Israel and gave them to the Grodno Survivors Association. Saved from the synagogue of Grodno, Poland (now Hrodna, Belarus). The Torah pointer and breast plate are the last surviving artifacts from the Synagogues of Grodno. These objects were found by Solomon Zukowski, a Jewish resident of Grodno. He was hidden in the nearby village of Lososna by a Christian family after the Nazis invaded. After the war he returned to Grodno and found these objects in the debris of the synagogue. They were the only objects salvaged as everything else was robbed or destroyed. The pointer and breast plate were brought to Israel by Dr. F. Zandman (a survivor of Grodno) who visited Grodno as a tourist. He gave them to the Grodno Survivor's Association, which entrusted them to Dr. Gila Flam who brought them to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Inscribed on the front are the ten commandments and the crown of the Torah.
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Belarus-Hrodna.
- Synagogues--Destruction and pillage--Belarus--Hrodna.
Genre
- Object
- Jewish Art and Symbolism