Partial leather razor strop used by a barber in a concentration camp
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 7.880 inches (20.015 cm) | Width: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) | Depth: 0.120 inches (0.305 cm)
Creator(s)
- Alexander Stankiewicz (Subject)
Biographical History
Alexander Stankiewicz, a Roman Catholic, was born on November 16, 1903, in Kamienskoje (or Kaminsk) Poland (or Russia). He was of Polish nationality and lived with his mother, Stanislawa Raczowska. He was barber and hairdresser. In 1941, he lived in Wloclawek, Poland, called Leslau by the occupying Germans. He was arrested February 16 for membership in a Polish political and literary organization, Kujawski Zwiazek Polityczno Literacki Zew. He was sentenced to prison and sent to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. His prisoner number was 24993. On March 11, 1943, he was transferred to a work detail in a nearby subcamp in Linz. After the war, he returned to Poland.
Archival History
The leather strip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Jan Niebrzydowski.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Jan Niebrzydowski
Scope and Content
Fragment of a barber's razor strop by Alexander Stankiewicz while an inmate at Mauthausen concentration camp where he worked as a barber. Stankiewicz was a Roman Catholic Pole, living in Wloclawek, (Leslau) Poland, who in 1941 was arrested and imprisoned by the occupying Germans for his membership in a Polish political and literary organization. At Mauthausen, his prisoner number was 24993. After the war ended in 1945, he returned to Poland.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Rectangular, brown, stiff leather strip, pierced by 2 small holes, 1 near each end. It has marks from heavy usage, possibly as a razor strop.
Subjects
- Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
- World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Polish.
- Political prisoners--Poland--Biography.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Personal narratives, Polish.
- Concentration camp inmates--Austria.
Genre
- Object
- Tools and Equipment