Violin case used by a Sinti (Gypsy) musician 2005.453.10 open
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Washington, United States
Wooden coffin style violin case owned by Rita Prigmore and originally used by her father, Gabriel Reinhardt, who played with his four brothers in a Gypsy band in Germany before World War II. The Nazi regime restricted Gypsy migrations in the 1930s. Gabriel met Theresia Winterstein in 1941 when they both worked at the Stadttheater in Wurzburg, Germany. Persecution of the Gypsies was escalating. They were no longer allowed to work at the theater. Several members of both families were forced to agree to sterilization. Gabriel and Theresia decided to have a child, and when Theresia was called in for sterilization she was 3 months pregnant with twins. The Germans permitted the pregnancy to continue and Rita and Rolanda were born in 1943. The infants were taken from their parents by Nazi eugenicists and used in medical experiments. Only Rita survived and was returned to her parents in 1944 by the German Red Cross.
Wooden coffin style violin case owned by Rita Prigmore and originally used by her father, Gabriel Reinhardt, who played with his four brothers in a Gypsy band in Germany before World War II. The Nazi regime restricted Gypsy migrations in the 1930s. Gabriel met Theresia Winterstein in 1941 when they both worked at the Stadttheater in Wurzburg, Germany. Persecution of the Gypsies was escalating. They were no longer allowed to work at the theater. Several members of both families were forced to agree to sterilization. Gabriel and Theresia decided to have a child, and when Theresia was called in for sterilization she was 3 months pregnant with twins. The Germans permitted the pregnancy to continue and Rita and Rolanda were born in 1943. The infants were taken from their parents by Nazi eugenicists and used in medical experiments. Only Rita survived and was returned to her parents in 1944 by the German Red Cross.
- Title: Violin case used by a Sinti (Gypsy) musician 2005.453.10 open
- Provenance: The violin case was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Rita Prigmore, the daughter of Gabriel Reinhardt and Theresia Winterstein Seible., The violin case was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Rita Prigmore, the daughter of Gabriel Reinhardt and Theresia Winterstein Seible.
- Subject Keywords: Eugenics--Germany--History--20th century. Human experimentation in medicine--Germany--History--20th century. Romanies--Nazi persecutions--Germany--Biography. Children, Romani--Germany--Biography. Involuntary sterilization--Germany--Biography. Romanies--Music--Germany--Biography., Eugenics--Germany--History--20th century. Human experimentation in medicine--Germany--History--20th century. Romanies--Nazi persecutions--Germany--Biography. Children, Romani--Germany--Biography. Involuntary sterilization--Germany--Biography. Romanies--Music--Germany--Biography.
- Type: Personal Equipment and Supplies, Personal Equipment and Supplies
- Rights: Permanent Collection, Permanent Collection
- External Link: See the full record at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, See the full record at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Medium: Wooden violin case painted black, narrowing toward one end, with straight sides, a flat base, and a peaked lid. Midpoint on the lid is a hinged metal handle attached to a metal plate. There is a keyhole at the front center, and 2 metal hooks and eyes. The back has 2 metal hinges attached by screws; the side, top, and base are attached by nails. The interior of the lid and the narrow half of the bottom are lined with tan cloth with a blue circle and line pattern; the wider half of the base is lined in blue felt. Near the wide end are 2 round, hollow, cardboard blocks topped with red cardboard and trimmed in pink ribbon; at midpoint are 2 cardboard blocks, with a square side and a diagonal side, with tops of brown cloth on cardboard. At the narrow end is a cardboard box with a lid with a cloth pull tab and a tan leather hinge attached by tacks. A cloth strap attached by tacks at the narrow end connects the base and the lid. 2 metal rings on the top front edge fit into 2 slots on the base edge above the keyhole. The lid interior has a folded cardboard bracket at the narrow end, and 2 narrow, wooden brackets at the wide end, attached by nails. There is a round, paper, manufacturer's label with a multicolor design with musical instruments, a vine with leaves, a white scroll with German text, and a red shield with an eagle with a human head and a crown., Wooden violin case painted black, narrowing toward one end, with straight sides, a flat base, and a peaked lid. Midpoint on the lid is a hinged metal handle attached to a metal plate. There is a keyhole at the front center, and 2 metal hooks and eyes. The back has 2 metal hinges attached by screws; the side, top, and base are attached by nails. The interior of the lid and the narrow half of the bottom are lined with tan cloth with a blue circle and line pattern; the wider half of the base is lined in blue felt. Near the wide end are 2 round, hollow, cardboard blocks topped with red cardboard and trimmed in pink ribbon; at midpoint are 2 cardboard blocks, with a square side and a diagonal side, with tops of brown cloth on cardboard. At the narrow end is a cardboard box with a lid with a cloth pull tab and a tan leather hinge attached by tacks. A cloth strap attached by tacks at the narrow end connects the base and the lid. 2 metal rings on the top front edge fit into 2 slots on the base edge above the keyhole. The lid interior has a folded cardboard bracket at the narrow end, and 2 narrow, wooden brackets at the wide end, attached by nails. There is a round, paper, manufacturer's label with a multicolor design with musical instruments, a vine with leaves, a white scroll with German text, and a red shield with an eagle with a human head and a crown.
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