Tablespoon with scratched initials used by a German Jewish inmate in several concentration camps 1994.75.1 front

Stainless steel tablespoon with scratched initials used by Hans Finke while he was imprisoned in Auschwitz concentration camp and several subcamps: Gleiwitz, Sachsenhausen, Flossenburg, and Bergen Belsen. Hans carried the spoon in his shoe as he was transferred from camp to camp from March 1943 until he was liberated in Bergen-Belsen in April 1945. Hans, his parents and his sister Ursula lived in Berlin during the rise of the Nazi dictatorship from 1933 with its aggressive anti-Jewish policies. Jews were forced out of their jobs, businesses were confiscated, and they were assigned to forced labor. In February 1943, Hans, 23, an electrician by trade, was a forced laborer for Siemens when he was hospitalized with appendicitis. On February 29, his parents were rounded up and deported to Auschwitz. On March 8, the Gestapo raided the hospital and arrested staff and patients. Hans was transported to Monowitz concentration camp, and later sent to Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen, Flossenberg, and Bergen-Belsen where he was liberated by the British Army. His parents were murdered in Auschwitz, but his sister Ursula survived in hiding. Bergen-Belsen became a displaced persons camp and Hans began working for the British and then for various aid groups. He met Alice Redlich, who had left Berlin for England in 1938 to continue her nurses's training. She volunteered with the Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad and, in September 1946, arrvied at the Bergen-Belsen DP camp in Germany. Her family was murdered in Auschwitz in 1943. Alice and Hans married on June 20, 1948, in the camp. The couple, with Alice pregnant with their first child, emigrated to the United States on August 29, 1949.

Stainless steel tablespoon with scratched initials used by Hans Finke while he was imprisoned in Auschwitz concentration camp and several subcamps: Gleiwitz, Sachsenhausen, Flossenburg, and Bergen Belsen. Hans carried the spoon in his shoe as he was transferred from camp to camp from March 1943 until he was liberated in Bergen-Belsen in April 1945. Hans, his parents and his sister Ursula lived in Berlin during the rise of the Nazi dictatorship from 1933 with its aggressive anti-Jewish policies. Jews were forced out of their jobs, businesses were confiscated, and they were assigned to forced labor. In February 1943, Hans, 23, an electrician by trade, was a forced laborer for Siemens when he was hospitalized with appendicitis. On February 29, his parents were rounded up and deported to Auschwitz. On March 8, the Gestapo raided the hospital and arrested staff and patients. Hans was transported to Monowitz concentration camp, and later sent to Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen, Flossenberg, and Bergen-Belsen where he was liberated by the British Army. His parents were murdered in Auschwitz, but his sister Ursula survived in hiding. Bergen-Belsen became a displaced persons camp and Hans began working for the British and then for various aid groups. He met Alice Redlich, who had left Berlin for England in 1938 to continue her nurses's training. She volunteered with the Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad and, in September 1946, arrvied at the Bergen-Belsen DP camp in Germany. Her family was murdered in Auschwitz in 1943. Alice and Hans married on June 20, 1948, in the camp. The couple, with Alice pregnant with their first child, emigrated to the United States on August 29, 1949.