Small handsewn stuffed brown and yellow dog brought by a German Jewish girl to Theresienstadt

Small stuffed dog brought by 8 year old Jutta Grybski to Theresienstadt ghetto labor-camp, where she was held from October 1944 to May 1945. It was given to Jutta by her maternal grandmother. Jutta had a Jewish mother, Kaethe, and a Catholic father, Hans, who divorced in late 1938 in Berlin, Germany. Hans enlisted in the German Army. His Aryan status and military service would protect Jutta and Kaethe from deportation, although their lives were restricted by anti-Jewish legislation. Jutta could not attend school or use public parks. Kaethe was forced to work in a commercial laundry. Jutta’s maternal grandparents Jakob and Bianka were deported to concentration camps in 1942 and 1943. After Hans was killed in battle on October 9, 1944, Kaethe and Jutta were arrested, and, on October 27, deported to Theresienstadt in the German protectorate of Czechoslovakia. Kaethe worked night shifts in a mica factory. They were given insufficient rations so Jutta stole extra food when she could. The camp was liberated on May 9, and they returned to Berlin in mid-June. Jutta’s maternal grandparents and uncle perished in the Holocaust. Jutta and Kaethe left for the United States in 1946.