Kitchen Guard Badge
Object numberM1991/045:003
TitleKitchen Guard Badge
DescriptionSquare badge with letters 'KüWa 6' (Kitchen Guard 6) cut out, and engraved 'Wirtschafts Uberwachungsstelle der Jüdischen Selbsverwaltung Theresienstadt'.
The collection contains a hand-made bracelet and three badges or tokens made in Theresienstadt from the lead insole of a shoe, belonging to Valerie Lange who was deported to Theresienstadt in January 1942.
Theresienstadt was a hybrid concentration camp and ghetto established by the SS in November 1941 in the fortress town of Terezin, located in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (the German-occupied region of Czechoslovakia). Administration inside the ghetto was assigned to the Ältestenrat (Council of Elders, German: Judenrat). Jews were housed in converted barracks, sleeping in triple decker wooden bunks, with several prisoners sharing each bunk. Overcrowding soon meant that many were forced to sleep in attics, cellars and hallways. Infectious diseases were rife and food was scarce. Despite the deplorable living conditions and the constant threat of deportation, Theresienstadt had a well-developed cultural life. Artists created artworks and taught art; writers, academics, musicians and actors gave lectures and concerts, and workshops were operating specialising in jewellery, welding, tool making and typewriter and sewing machine repair.
Valerie-Ann Langer (nee Bergmann) was born 30 November 1916 in Pilzno, Czechoslovakia, to well-to-do parents, Else and Maximillian Bergmann. Her brother, Otta Francisco, was eight years older. They had a cook, a chambermaid and a governess. Her father owned a coalmine and ran a coal business. Valerie married William Langer in November 1940 so that her husband would not be required to go to a work camp for single men. Her brother had left to study art in London, and from England he migrated to Chile.
When she was deported to Theresienstadt in January 1942, Valerie was assigned work constructing wooden boxes, whilst her husband worked as a supervisor at the timber yard. She describes creative activities such as painting walls in exchange for bread, making dolls in exchange for extra soup, and making lampshades.
Deported to Auschwitz in December 1943 with her husband, her job in Auschwitz was to move stones and clear rubble. Valerie sewed a lot, making a dress with others in her block for a girl who was a tap dancer, and socks and underpants for her husband and friends' husband out of old blankets. She found the needle she used whilst moving rubble. She was transferred to Hamburg-Geilenberg and then to Hamburg-Neugraben, and Hamburg-Tiefstack. She was injured during a bombardment, with damage to her face, an injury that left her with a loss of hearing and trouble walking.
Valerie was then transferred to Bergen-Belsen where she spent most of the time in bed due to her injuries, and she contracted typhus. She was in Bergen-Belsen for a short period until liberation, after which she returned home and was reunited with her husband.
She wanted to join her brother in Chile, however, diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and Chile ceased. They decided instead to migrate to Australia, arriving in 1948 with two-month old daughter Sylvia, and assistance from the Jewish Welfare organisation. Her creativity continued in Australia: she attended East Sydney Tech where she learned painting, jewellery making and sculpture.
The collection contains a hand-made bracelet and three badges or tokens made in Theresienstadt from the lead insole of a shoe, belonging to Valerie Lange who was deported to Theresienstadt in January 1942.
Theresienstadt was a hybrid concentration camp and ghetto established by the SS in November 1941 in the fortress town of Terezin, located in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (the German-occupied region of Czechoslovakia). Administration inside the ghetto was assigned to the Ältestenrat (Council of Elders, German: Judenrat). Jews were housed in converted barracks, sleeping in triple decker wooden bunks, with several prisoners sharing each bunk. Overcrowding soon meant that many were forced to sleep in attics, cellars and hallways. Infectious diseases were rife and food was scarce. Despite the deplorable living conditions and the constant threat of deportation, Theresienstadt had a well-developed cultural life. Artists created artworks and taught art; writers, academics, musicians and actors gave lectures and concerts, and workshops were operating specialising in jewellery, welding, tool making and typewriter and sewing machine repair.
Valerie-Ann Langer (nee Bergmann) was born 30 November 1916 in Pilzno, Czechoslovakia, to well-to-do parents, Else and Maximillian Bergmann. Her brother, Otta Francisco, was eight years older. They had a cook, a chambermaid and a governess. Her father owned a coalmine and ran a coal business. Valerie married William Langer in November 1940 so that her husband would not be required to go to a work camp for single men. Her brother had left to study art in London, and from England he migrated to Chile.
When she was deported to Theresienstadt in January 1942, Valerie was assigned work constructing wooden boxes, whilst her husband worked as a supervisor at the timber yard. She describes creative activities such as painting walls in exchange for bread, making dolls in exchange for extra soup, and making lampshades.
Deported to Auschwitz in December 1943 with her husband, her job in Auschwitz was to move stones and clear rubble. Valerie sewed a lot, making a dress with others in her block for a girl who was a tap dancer, and socks and underpants for her husband and friends' husband out of old blankets. She found the needle she used whilst moving rubble. She was transferred to Hamburg-Geilenberg and then to Hamburg-Neugraben, and Hamburg-Tiefstack. She was injured during a bombardment, with damage to her face, an injury that left her with a loss of hearing and trouble walking.
Valerie was then transferred to Bergen-Belsen where she spent most of the time in bed due to her injuries, and she contracted typhus. She was in Bergen-Belsen for a short period until liberation, after which she returned home and was reunited with her husband.
She wanted to join her brother in Chile, however, diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and Chile ceased. They decided instead to migrate to Australia, arriving in 1948 with two-month old daughter Sylvia, and assistance from the Jewish Welfare organisation. Her creativity continued in Australia: she attended East Sydney Tech where she learned painting, jewellery making and sculpture.
Production placeTheresienstadt ghetto, Terezin, Czech Republic
Production date 1941 - 1945
Production periodWorld War II (1939-1945)
Object namebadges
Materiallead
Techniquecut
Dimensions
- width: 50.00 mm
height: 45.00 mm
Language
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Valerie Langer