Pair of silver candlesticks with floral engraving recovered in postwar Germany 2008.328.1 a front

Candlesticks given to 25 year old Lotte Cohen in Germany after she relocated there following her liberation in January 1945 from Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. The candlesticks were given to her by a shopkeeper who told her that they were taken from the home of a Jewish family after they were deported. Lotte never spoke of her own experiences during the Holocaust. But she used these candlesticks for every holiday and always told her family the story of their recovery. Lotte, her parents, and her 7 siblings were deported from the Netherlands to Auschwitz. Lotte, one brother, and her parents arrived there in May 1944; her parents were killed immediately. Lotte was sent to Stuffhof and Praust labor camps, then back to Auschwitz, where she was liberated on January 27, 1945, by Soviet forces. The rest of her family perished. She was transferred to a displaced persons camp in Germany and, shortly after that, returned to the Netherlands. In 1949, a brother who had emigrated to the US in the 1930s was located and Lotte joined him in Philadelphia.

Candlesticks given to 25 year old Lotte Cohen in Germany after she relocated there following her liberation in January 1945 from Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. The candlesticks were given to her by a shopkeeper who told her that they were taken from the home of a Jewish family after they were deported. Lotte never spoke of her own experiences during the Holocaust. But she used these candlesticks for every holiday and always told her family the story of their recovery. Lotte, her parents, and her 7 siblings were deported from the Netherlands to Auschwitz. Lotte, one brother, and her parents arrived there in May 1944; her parents were killed immediately. Lotte was sent to Stuffhof and Praust labor camps, then back to Auschwitz, where she was liberated on January 27, 1945, by Soviet forces. The rest of her family perished. She was transferred to a displaced persons camp in Germany and, shortly after that, returned to the Netherlands. In 1949, a brother who had emigrated to the US in the 1930s was located and Lotte joined him in Philadelphia.