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These personal objects also served as subtle forms of resistance, used to smuggle valuables or spread anti-Nazi messages.
By studying these items, the author of the latest EHRI Document Blogpost, Anna Batzeli, contributes to the understanding of trauma, memory, and resilience, emphasising the importance of preserving individual stories within the Holocaust history and memory.
Sophie Turner-Zaretsky and her family were forced into the ghetto when the Germans occupied Lviv. In 1942, her father acquired false documents for her and her mother, enabling their escape. One day, Sophie received a stuffed bear from her mother.
“She later named it ‘Refugee,‘ just like she and her mother were refugees of the war. (…) For over 50 years Sophie held on to the bear that she had received as a little girl. It was with her when she was Zofia, a Catholic in Poland; it was with her when she grew up in England; and it was with her when she moved to the United States to begin a new life yet again. The bear was a silent witness to the miracle of Sophie’s rescue, rebirth, and success.”
Sophie’s teddy bear, stuffed animals, animal-shaped puppets, wooden toys, animal-themed board games, and other ’much-loved’ toys offered comfort and companionship to children while in hiding, during the Kindertransport, or after liberation from internment camps. Many of these items can be found in museum collections, often accompanied by the personal testimonies of their owners. Similarly, animal-inspired jewelry held deep emotional significance, symbolizing cherished memories, relationships, or milestones. Examining these objects enhances our understanding of the Holocaust, especially considering that their forced confiscation by the Nazis and their collaborators dehumanized Jews, stripping them of their dignity and identity. The loss of these items represented the destruction of precious mementos and symbols of identity, causing profound psychological harm to the victims.
Animal-themed jewelry and toys often represent personal stories, emotions, and memories of the individuals who owned them. Their study can help us humanize the statistics of the Holocaust. These items reflect the innocence of childhood and the impact of trauma on individuals and families, and they can illustrate subtle forms of resistance and coping mechanisms where individuals find comfort and hope.
Items like teddy bears, animal-shaped puppets, and wooden toys provided comfort, companionship, and a semblance of normalcy amidst the horrors of persecution, displacement, and violence. These items helped children cope with the traumatic realities of the time by offering an emotional refuge. These objects carried deep emotional significance, representing cherished memories, connections to loved ones, and ties to pre-war life.
The survival of such personal items—despite the trauma of the Holocaust—served as a reminder of identity and survival. The loss of these mementos, often through forced confiscation by the Nazis, represented the stripping away of dignity and the destruction of symbols of identity. This had a profound psychological impact on the victims, emphasizing the importance of memory and the preservation of personal history. Beyond offering comfort, these toys and jewelry also played a role in resistance. Some items, such as animal-themed board games or stuffed toys used to smuggle valuables, served as subtle forms of defiance against the Nazi regime.
These objects highlight non-violent forms of Jewish resistance and the resilience of individuals navigating the brutal conditions of ghettos and concentration camps. They also offer a glimpse into the daily struggles of survival, where even small acts of resistance—through hidden messages or smuggling—became a way to maintain a sense of autonomy and dignity.