Leather charm pin made from scraps by an inmate in Bergen-Belsen
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 2.625 inches (6.668 cm) | Width: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm)
Creator(s)
- Ruth Klemens (Subject)
Biographical History
Ruth Klemens (1927-2011) was born in Berlin to Alfred Wiener (b. 1885) and Margarethe Wiener (nee Saulmann, 1895-1945). They moved to Amsterdam in 1934 with her grandmother, Amalia Wiener. Around 1938 Alfred moved to London, and he relocated to the United States before Pearl Harbor. Ruth was deported to Westerbork with her mother and sisters, Eva and Mirjam, in June 1943. They were transferred to Bergen-Belsen in January 1944. They left in January 1945 for Switzerland as part of a prisoner exchange based on Paraguayan passports her father had purchased for them. Her mother died upon arrival in Switzerland, and Ruth and her sisters were transferred to Marseilles, where they were put on a boat to the United States in February 1945.
Archival History
The pin was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1988 by Ruth Wiener Klemens.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ruth Klemens
Scope and Content
The pin was created by Ruth Wiener from leather scraps found in her workplace in Westerbork concentration camp.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Made with scraps of leather; top piece is brown leather rectangle, string hanging down with five "charms" at the end of each including a brown horseshoe, red heart, blue four leaf clover, and an anchor.
Corporate Bodies
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Netherlands.
Genre
- Object
- Jewelry