Miniature mother of pearl compass carried by an Austrian refugee family 2008.333.3 front

Miniature compass given to Elisabeth [Liesl] Ornstein, 13, by her parents Hilda and Paul after they were reunited in New York in 1940 during the war. Elisabeth and her family were from Vienna where the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938 led to severe anti-Jewish persecution. Although they were practicing Catholics and did not identify themselves as Jews, they were Jews under Nazi law. After Kristallnacht in November 9, 1938, Elisabeth's parents decided to send the children out of the country. Elisabeth and Georg, 9, were given passage on a Kindertransport to England by the Quakers in January 1939. Her parents obtained US visas and arrived in New York in January 1940. After the evacuation at Dunkirk in June of that year, her parents insisted that the children be sent to the US, although German U-boats made trans-Atlantic crossings treacherous. The children traveled separately but, by September 1940, the family was together.

Miniature compass given to Elisabeth [Liesl] Ornstein, 13, by her parents Hilda and Paul after they were reunited in New York in 1940 during the war. Elisabeth and her family were from Vienna where the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938 led to severe anti-Jewish persecution. Although they were practicing Catholics and did not identify themselves as Jews, they were Jews under Nazi law. After Kristallnacht in November 9, 1938, Elisabeth's parents decided to send the children out of the country. Elisabeth and Georg, 9, were given passage on a Kindertransport to England by the Quakers in January 1939. Her parents obtained US visas and arrived in New York in January 1940. After the evacuation at Dunkirk in June of that year, her parents insisted that the children be sent to the US, although German U-boats made trans-Atlantic crossings treacherous. The children traveled separately but, by September 1940, the family was together.