Torah mantle with embroidered crown used for Bar Mitzvah at Theresienstadt

Herbert Blau was born on July 28, 1931, in Vienna, Austria. His father, Adolph, was a decorated, disabled World War II veteran who was a licensed tobacco vendor. His mother, Elsa, was a graduate of the Vienna Conservatory of Music. He had an older sister, Gertrude, born on March 14, 1925. They were an observant Jewish family. In March 1938, the Anschluss or the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany occurred. Anti-Jewish legislation was enacted and the civil rights of Jews were dissolved. On August 13, 1942, the family was deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. The family was separated, as men and women were housed in separate barracks. Herbert contracted TB and another inmate, Ursula Pawel, shared the vitamins and food she received from her mother to help him recover. In 1944, Herbert was able to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah at a ceremony presided over by Rabbi Leo Baeck. On May 2, 1945, the Germans transferred administration of the camp to the International Red Cross. The family was sent to the Deggendorf displaced persons camp in Germany. Herbert received training as a locksmith and welder in the ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation through Training) vocational school. The family resided in the camp until November 1947 when, with the assistance of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, they were granted visas for the United States, where they settled in Vineland, New Jersey. Herbert passed away, age 54, in 1985.

The Torah mantle was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Jeffrey A. Gordon, the son of Gertrude Blau Gordon.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Jeffrey A. Gordon