Mother-of-pearl lever arm of a nail clipper used in a concentration camp
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm) | Width: 0.375 inches (0.953 cm) | Depth: 0.250 inches (0.635 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 nail 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
Part of a nail 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
Rectangular, silver-colored metal file with one pointed end and one end bent upward into a small tube with a screw pin through it, where it broke off from a nail clipper. One flat side has a mother of pearl plate attached by 2 small rivets, and one side is scored cross-wise with grooves.
Subjects
- Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
- Political prisoners--Poland--Biography.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Personal narratives, Polish.
- World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Polish.
- Concentration camp inmates--Austria.
Genre
- Object
- Personal Equipment and Supplies