Small Allach porcelain vase found by a US Army nurse in Dachau concentration camp post-liberation
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 4.880 inches (12.395 cm) | Width: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm) | Depth: 2.620 inches (6.655 cm)
Creator(s)
- Irene Halmi (Subject)
- Porzellan-Manufaktur Allach-München (Manufacturer)
Biographical History
Irene Halmi was born in 1921 in Palmerton, PA, to Lajos and Julia Nemeth Halmi. She had three sisters and three brothers. She graduated from the Palmerton Hospital School of Nursing. During World War II, she was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Nursing Corps in both in the US and in the European Theater. Dachau concentration camp was liberated by the United States Army on April 29, 1945. The 127th Evacuation Hospital, the unit with which Irene served, arrived on May 2, 1945, to assess and to care for the thousands of former inmates of the just liberated camp. The three story building occupied by the hospital personnel was previously the headquarters for the German SS [Schutzstaffel, Protection Squadrons] unit of the camp. A nearby one story building housed the patient care facility. After leaving the military, Irene received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania in 1950. She returned to Palmerton and resumed her career as a nurse. She died, age 91, on August 14, 2012.
Archival History
The Allach vase was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 by Irene Halmi.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Irene Halmi
Scope and Content
Allach porcelain vase found by Irene Halmi at the Dachau concentration camp when she worked there as a nurse following its liberation. Lieutenant Halmi served with the 127th Evacuation Hospital, United States Army, which arrived in Dachau on May 2, 1945, soon after its liberation on April 29 by American troops. She found the vase in the building used to house hospital personnel. The building had previously served as headquarters for the German SS (Schutzstaffel, Protection Squadron) unit at the camp. The Allach porcelain factory was one of the SS's first industrial enterprises, under the direct control of Heinrich Himmler. The factories were sub-camps of Dachau concentration camp, with camp inmates supplying the forced labor.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
White porcelain vase with a conical footed base and a flared opening, scalloped lip, and fluted vertical lines on the body. It has the SS lightening bolt maker’s mark printed on the bottom.
Corporate Bodies
- Porzellan-Manufaktur Allach-München
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
- United States. Army. Evacuation Hospital, 127th
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Conscript labor--Germany.
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation.
- Nurses--United States.
Genre
- Decorative Arts
- Object