Metal badge with the Croatian letter Ž to identify a Croatian Jew

Jewish identification badge with a Z for Zidov (Jew) that Alfred Grunhut was forced to wear in Zagreb, Croatia, from 1941-1945. Grunhut was a well known cabaret and theater actor. He survived the Holocaust despite the zealous persecutions of Jews by the independent state of Croatia. This government was run by the fascist Croatian organization, Ustasa, whose rule was endorsed by the Germans after they partitioned Yugoslavia in April 1941. By May, the Jews of Zagreb had to register at the community center and wear badges. There were frequent deportations to the concentration camps established by the Ustasa. Miroslava Babic was the Grunhut's live-in maid before and during World War II.