Bar of soap issued to a US soldier while held as a POW in a German Stalag
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) | Width: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Depth: 0.630 inches (1.6 cm)
Creator(s)
- Rolland G. Pearce (Subject)
Archival History
The soap was donated to United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1997 by Rolland Pearce.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Rolland Pearce
Scope and Content
Bar of soap issued to 23 year old Rolland Pearce, an US airman, while held as a prisoner of war by the Germans in Stalag Luft IV in Tychowo, Poland. On February 6, the camp was evacuated due to approaching Soviet forces. Rolland and the other prisoners were sent on a forced march that came to be known as the Black March, because of the brutal conditions and treatment. The march lasted 86 days, until early April, when they reached Fallingbostel, Germany, and Stalag 357, about forty miles away.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Small, waxy, rectangular, greyish in color with marking "RIF 0073" in between 2 vertical lines on one of the faces of the bar.
Subjects
- Soldiers--United States--Biography.
- Prisoners of war--United States--Biography.
- World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, German.
- World War, 1939-1945--Peronal narratives, American.
Genre
- Personal Equipment and Supplies
- Object