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Geometric floral patterned pink scarf worn by an infant while the family lived in hiding

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Washington, United States

Floral kerchief used by Ruth Fromm Abraham as a cover for her infant daughter Reha when they lived in hiding in Berlin from 1943 to 1945. It originally belonged to Ruth's mother Frieda Fromm, who was deported on July 24, 1942. Frieda and her husband Meyer moved from Allenstein to Berlin circa 1936 to be near their daughters. Since the Kristallnacht pogrom in November 1938, life for Jews in Berlin was precarious. Ruth married Walter Abraham in 1939. Walter's parents and grandparents were deported in October 1940. Frieda and Meyer were deported in July 1942 to Theresienstadt, and then on September 26, to Treblinka killing center. Ruth and Walter had a daughter Reha on January 19, 1943. and went into hiding near Berlin three days later. They survived for over 2 years with the help of a non-Jewish German woman, Maria Nickel. Maria provided food and gave them the identity papers issued to herself and her husband. Because Ruth could pass for an Aryan German, she and Walter moved often and lived separately some of this time. Reha remained with Ruth. The family returned to Berlin after it was liberated by the Soviet Army in early May 1945. They left for America in 1948.

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  • Title: Geometric floral patterned pink scarf worn by an infant while the family lived in hiding
  • Provenance: The scarf was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Reha Abraham Sokolow, daughter or Ruth Fromm Abraham.
  • Subject Keywords: Hidden children (Holocaust)--Germany--Berlin--Biography. Holocaust survivors--New York--Biography. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Berlin--Personal narratives. Jewish children in the Holocaust--Germany--Berlin--Biography. Jews--Persecution--Germany--Berlin--Biography. Jews--Rescue--Germany--Biography. Righteous Gentiles in the Holocaust--Germany--Berlin--Biography.
  • Type: Dress Accessories
  • Rights: Permanent Collection
  • External Link: See the full record at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  • Medium: Triangular, dark pink, lightweight cloth scarf with a pink, green, white, and black geometric floral pattern with alternating circles and squares. Two edges have handstitched hems and one is unfinished.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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