German Youth Fest 1936 badge with an embossed Reichsadler and swastika acquired by a US soldier

Harold B. Goldberg (1922-2011) was born in Brooklyn, New York to Samuel and Rose Goldberg. Samuel and Rose were born in Russia and immigrated to the United States before the birth of their children. Samuel worked as a presser in a tailor shop. Harold had six siblings and the family spoke Yiddish and English at home. As a young adult Harold worked as a mail carrier and attended City College in New York. On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The following day the United States declared war on Japan, and on December 11, Germany declared war on the United States. On October 31, 1942 Harold was drafted into the U.S. military. He entered the army on October 31, 1942 as a private, and received serial number 32613738. He served in Europe until the end of the war. Harold then returned home to New York where he married his wife Rita in 1952. The family lived in New York for the rest of their lives.

The Youth Fest badge was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by the family of Harold Goldberg.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the family of Harold Goldberg

Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.