Through our collections, the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust documents, preserves, and shares the stories of Holocaust survivors and their families. We continue to acquire objects that tell these stories. While only a small portion of our collection is on view at a time, all objects contribute in crucial ways to understanding the material culture of the Holocaust and the periods immediately before and after.
Treasured and irreplaceable family photographs; heirloom Sabbath candlesticks; a wedding present of wooden clogs; a tin Hanukkah menorah with 17 candleholders so that two families could share it for the holiday—these are some of the many Museum objects that illustrate Jewish life, reveal Jewish self-reliance in the face of exclusion, and express the pain of extreme loss in the Shoah.
Lajos Schwarz and Josefa Schwarz at a gathering. Gift of Karen Wolf and Ron Dranetz in memory of Marianna Dranetz, 2022.17.1
Candlesticks of Rysya Aleksandrovskaya, Bershad Ghetto, Ukraine. Gift of Arkady Aleksandrovsky in memory of Rysya Aleksandrovskaya, 2003.A.57.1-2
“Babouj” or “Babouj il-hammam,” pair of wooden clogs inlaid with mother-of-pearl, used for mikvah and bath by Rachel Rabih-Sutton, Aleppo, Syria. Gift of Stella Sardell Sanua, 182.96ab
Hanukkah menorah of the Heidelberger family, Flehingen, Germany. Gift of Louis Heidelberger, 1362.91a-e
Yellow star, Z from baby carriage of Zonko Radovan, Zagreb, Yugoslavia/Croatia. Gift of Diane and Bill Stern, Scarsdale, New York, 2012.33.46
Yellow star, Juif, of Mates (Max) Handfus Paris, France. In memory of Ita Handfus and Robert Handfus, 2014.23.5
Kennkarte of the donor under a false Polish name, Warsaw, Poland. Gift of Alexander Colman, 239.92
Matilda (nee Elias) with baby son, Kastoria, Greece. Gift of Julia Schwartz, 138.89
Ketubbah of Yosef Alhadad and Esther bat Yakov, Tetuan, Morocco. Gift of the Kalisher Independent Society, 1999.A.267
Eva-Maria Jessurun, Hamburg, Germany / Portugal. Gift of Walter and Phyllis Ferber, 2068.89
Letter of reference for Yosel Yankelevitch Orshovitch, Leningrad, Russia (Soviet Union). Gift of Helen Hershoff in honor of Henry, Mary, and Israel Hershoff, 1975.91
Boy Scout Association Shanghai (United) Group certificate of Gerd Lindenstraus, Shanghai, China. Gift of Gerald Lindenstraus, 218.94
Leidimas (sauf-conduit) of Feiga Magid, with Sugihara visa, Kovno, Lithuania / Japan. Gift of Allen Magid, 44.97
Prayer shawl of Aron Weisz. Gift of Judith Perlaki, 154.93
De Frie Danske, Copenhagen, Denmark. Gift of The Museum of Danish Resistance, Denmark, 60.97
Die Nevuoh, New York, USA. Gift of Irving Riegel, 473.91.1-2
Cartoon drawing of life as a POW shown as a film reel, drawn by a POW for Berry Bernard, Italy. Gift of Denise Bernard Gluck, 2002.A.61
