Nazi Mug

Ceramic mug that belonged to Clasina Helena Cauveren, an inmate of Ravensbrück. On the base is an eagle and swastika and the manufacturer’s mark ‘Villeroy & Boch, Mettlach/1939’.

The mug was the only item Clasina took with her when the camp was liberated in 1945. Clasina was not Jewish, though she was married to a prominent member of the Jewish community, Sidney Samson Cauveren. The couple lived in Amsterdam with their four children. One day a Jewish lady knocked on the door asking for help to be hidden. Sidney and Clasina took her in, and then more people arrived, including the husband and son of the daughter from Sidney’s previous marriage. Despite the risk to the Cauveren family, a hiding place was created for them, concealed by a large kitchen buffet.

With four extra mouths to be fed and to avoid suspicion, groceries could not be bought in one store. Tosca Cauveren, then aged almost 14, recalls that she and her brother went to neighbouring farms to get food. In 1941 Sidney died; Clasina continued to hide the Jews. However, on 4 June 1944 they were betrayed. Tosca recalls two men of the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service of the SS) with revolvers forcing them out. Clasina was deported - together with the people she had tried to save - to Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany. She was a victim of forced medical experiments.

Tosca was left to look after the house and her brothers. Due to the "hunger winter" (Dutch famine of 1944-1945) she struggled to find food and ways to keep warm. After liberation, Tosca received a telegram from her mother stating, "I’m still alive." Her mother returned after her ordeal in August, having recovered from Tuberculosis but unable to speak of her experiences. Clasina died in Amsterdam in 1972. Her mug was inherited by her grandson Sydney Raymond Cauveren.