Manual hair clipper with blade guard used in a concentration camp
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 5.500 inches (13.97 cm) | Width: 3.625 inches (9.208 cm) | Depth: 3.250 inches (8.255 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 hair clipper 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
Hair clipper used 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 was arrested in 1941 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
Silver-colored metal tool with a removable blade guard. It has 2 arms extending from a rounded casing attached with a wing nut and 2 screws, a third is missing. The left arm is attached firmly and the right arm is attached on a spring that is visible inside the casing. Each arm has a finger grip halfway along its length. There is engraved text on the inside surface of the right arm. There are 2 flat, overlapping plates on the underside with sharp combs on their leading edge. The bottom plate has engraved letters and numbers. The rectangular, thin, metal guard slides on and off the comb; it has folded edges on 3 sides to hold it in place.
Subjects
- Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
- World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Polish.
- Concentration camp inmates--Austria.
- Political prisoners--Poland--Biography.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Personal narratives, Polish.
Genre
- Personal Equipment and Supplies
- Object