Charms from the ghetto

Despite the deplorable living conditions and the constant threat of deportation, Theresienstadt concentration camp/ghetto had a well-developed cultural life. Jewish artists created artworks; writers, academics, musicians and actors gave lectures and concerts, and workshops were operating specialising in welding, tool making and typewriter and sewing machine repair. A jewellery workshop was also operating in Theresienstadt.

72-year-old Austrian born Ludwig Engel was deported to Theresienstadt in November 1941. A jeweller by profession, he was appointed the head of a jewellery workshop which took advantage of the skills of crafts people incarcerated there. Using predominantly scrap metal, Ludwig made items of jewellery – charms, brooches and pendants – as souvenirs for the German guards. Items were also made unofficially for friends and loved ones or exchanged for necessities.

Sydney Jewish Museum has a collection of more than 50 items of his jewellery. Rings engraved with the initials ‘FE’ made for his wife Fritzi; charms featuring the Theresienstadt crest or coat of arms; charms depicting wild and domestic animals such as a Dachshund and Schnauzer, to Minnie Mouse, a pig, elephant, duck and hare. There is even a rabbit in an egg. A miniature louse and a lice comb decorated with two tiny lice, are charms that refer to the harsh realities of camp life.

Ludwig and Fritzi survived the war, but she died in 1947 in Vienna, just prior to his immigration to Australia.