Object numberM1991/040
Creator Albert and Edith Swieca
DescriptionHand-crafted aluminium cigarette/ tobacco box, engraved with image of a man smoking a pipe with a background of mountains on the front and the words 'ALBERT SWIECA MUHLDORF 19.4.45' on the back. It was made by the donor in Muhldorf labour camp, from metal stolen from the aeroplane factory where he worked as a forced labourer.
Mühldorf Labour Camp, a sub-camp of Dachau, provided labour for an underground installation for the production of the Messerschmitt 262 jet fighter. Albert Swieca recalls that the Allies conducted air raids in the region. During one of them, a goods train was derailed near Rosenheim. Albert was amongst the group taken to clean up; whilst they were working they found sugar and tobacco on the train.
The Allied air raids occurred between 19 March and 20 April 1945, corresponding with the date ‘19.4.45’ engraved on the cigarette tin, indicating that was possibly made to hold the tobacco that had been found.
Abraham (Albert) Swieca was born on 5 August 1916 in Warsaw, to Szyja and Laya Swieca. He had an older brother Sam and younger sister Marie. He was six-years old when the family emigrated to Paris. The family’s millinery factory was attached to the back of the house. When he turned 15, he left school to work in the business. When Albert turned 21, the family again moved to Paris. Shortly after he met Edith Heilikmanowitz; she was 16. They were chaperoned by his sister Marie and Edith’s older brother Paul. (Ironically, Marie and Paul became engaged in 1942. Neither of them survived the war.)
When war broke out, Albert volunteered to serve in the French army and was sent to Algeria. With the Fall of France in 1940 (parts of France became occupied by Germany) he was discharged, and he returned to Paris. Albert and Edith married in September 1941. By this time, many laws stripping Jews of their livelihoods and barring them from public life had been enacted.
Albert was arrested and interned in Drancy—a transit camp for Jews awaiting deportation to extermination camps. He was transported to Auschwitz Birkenau. “I became number, 16322.” Around Easter of 1943, he and about 100 others were sent to clean up the remnants of the Warsaw Ghetto. In August 1944 there were rumours that the Russians were coming. They were forced on a death march to Dachau. From there Albert was transported to one of its satellite camps, Mühldorf. Here inmates worked on the production of Messerschmitt jet fighters. On 30 April 1945, they were ordered to evacuate their barracks. Eventually, they were told that they had to find their way home. Albert made his way to Paris and was reunited with Edith.
Sam and his wife Betty had immigrated to Australia before the war; they sponsored Albert and Edith’s applications to emigrate. They arrived in February 1947. Alfred became a partner in his millinery factory. Once it became cheaper to import knitwear rather than manufacture in Australia, the brothers sold the business and bought a news agency in Kings Cross and ran it for 15 years.
Mühldorf Labour Camp, a sub-camp of Dachau, provided labour for an underground installation for the production of the Messerschmitt 262 jet fighter. Albert Swieca recalls that the Allies conducted air raids in the region. During one of them, a goods train was derailed near Rosenheim. Albert was amongst the group taken to clean up; whilst they were working they found sugar and tobacco on the train.
The Allied air raids occurred between 19 March and 20 April 1945, corresponding with the date ‘19.4.45’ engraved on the cigarette tin, indicating that was possibly made to hold the tobacco that had been found.
Abraham (Albert) Swieca was born on 5 August 1916 in Warsaw, to Szyja and Laya Swieca. He had an older brother Sam and younger sister Marie. He was six-years old when the family emigrated to Paris. The family’s millinery factory was attached to the back of the house. When he turned 15, he left school to work in the business. When Albert turned 21, the family again moved to Paris. Shortly after he met Edith Heilikmanowitz; she was 16. They were chaperoned by his sister Marie and Edith’s older brother Paul. (Ironically, Marie and Paul became engaged in 1942. Neither of them survived the war.)
When war broke out, Albert volunteered to serve in the French army and was sent to Algeria. With the Fall of France in 1940 (parts of France became occupied by Germany) he was discharged, and he returned to Paris. Albert and Edith married in September 1941. By this time, many laws stripping Jews of their livelihoods and barring them from public life had been enacted.
Albert was arrested and interned in Drancy—a transit camp for Jews awaiting deportation to extermination camps. He was transported to Auschwitz Birkenau. “I became number, 16322.” Around Easter of 1943, he and about 100 others were sent to clean up the remnants of the Warsaw Ghetto. In August 1944 there were rumours that the Russians were coming. They were forced on a death march to Dachau. From there Albert was transported to one of its satellite camps, Mühldorf. Here inmates worked on the production of Messerschmitt jet fighters. On 30 April 1945, they were ordered to evacuate their barracks. Eventually, they were told that they had to find their way home. Albert made his way to Paris and was reunited with Edith.
Sam and his wife Betty had immigrated to Australia before the war; they sponsored Albert and Edith’s applications to emigrate. They arrived in February 1947. Alfred became a partner in his millinery factory. Once it became cheaper to import knitwear rather than manufacture in Australia, the brothers sold the business and bought a news agency in Kings Cross and ran it for 15 years.
Production placeMuhldorf, Germany
Production date circa 1945
Object namecigarette tins
Materialaluminium
Dimensions
- whole width: 105.00 mm
height: 70.00 mm
depth: 20.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Albert and Edith Swieca