Small leather wallet with buckle used by a teenage girl to hold her diary in a labor camp

Identifier
irn517356
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2005.349.3
Dates
1 Jan 1946 - 31 Dec 1949
Level of Description
Item
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm) | Width: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm) | Depth: 0.880 inches (2.235 cm)

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Julia Rabinowicz was born June 4, 1927, in Łódź, Poland, to Becalel and Salomea Goldkirch Rabinowicz. Salomea, born on January 13, 1890, was a pharmacist. Julia had one older sister, Krystyna, born in 1922. In September 1939, the Germans invaded Poland and occupied Łódź. They established a Jewish ghetto In February 1940,where Julia and her mother were relocated and lived with Maria Rabinowicz, possibly a cousin. In August 1944, Julia and Salomea were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Julia was transferred to the Kratzau labor camp in Czechoslovakia. It is likely she was put to work in the ammunition factory; children were often used there because they needed small hands to assemble the grenades. The camp was liberated on May 9, 1945, by Russian forces. From Kratzau, Julia returned to Łódź and lived in the Helenowek children’s home operated by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. She stayed at Helenowek until 1949. Both her parents were killed but her sister survived. Salomea had been transferred from Auschwitz-Birkenau to Stutthof concentration camp in Poland on September 27, 1944. She was assigned prisoner number 88171 and died there on December 30, 1944. Julia married Chaim Piotr Gorodecki. He had lived in the Warsaw ghetto until its destruction in summer 1943. He then went into hiding on the Aryan side of Warsaw, and fought in the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944. They had one daughter. The family lived in Warsaw until 1968, when the antisemitic policies of the Polish government prompted them to emigrate to Israel.

Archival History

The wallet was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Olga Lax, the daughter of Julia Rabinowicz.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Olga Lax

Scope and Content

Small leather wallet owned by Julia Rabinowicz. She used it to hold miniature notebooks where she wrote about her experiences during the Holocaust. In 1939, the Germans invaded and occupied Poland. The next year, Julia, her parents, Becalel and Solomea, and her sister, Krystyna, were interned in the Jewish ghetto in Łódź. In August 1944, when she was 17 years old, Julia and her mother were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. Julia was then transferred to the Kratzau labor camp in Czechoslovakia, where she was liberated on May 9, 1945. Her parents perished in the Holocaust. Her sister survived. Julia returned to Łódź after the war and, until 1949, lived in the Helenowek children’s home, operated by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Rectangular, textured black leather wallet with a top flap. The flap has 2 straps that fit into 2 thread buckles on the front. On one side is an expandable pocket. Back has 1 small, horizontal, leather strap.

Corporate Bodies

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.