cup and saucer
Object numberM2006/062
Titlecup and saucer
DescriptionMiniature porcelain tea cup and saucer painted with fruit (apricot) designs, circa 1910. It comes from a child's tea set that belonged to Naomi Cierer, born in 1938 in Kosice, Czechoslovakia. She was deported to Auschwitz with her mother and brother. All were murdered. This single cup and saucer was found after liberation, by Marika Weinberger's sister, cousin of Naomi, discarded in the garden by the new residents of their home.
"Naomi was my young cousin. And unfortunately, in 1944 she perished together with her mother and brother, Avikdor, in Auschwitz. That's what we know about her. My uncle, Dr Cierer, her father, perished the same year. We don't exactly know where, but that part of the family was completely lost. Now after liberation, when we came back to what we thought would be 'home again', my sister, seven years my senior, decided that she is going to go back to our old apartment just to have a look what happened. She wasn't exactly welcome. And they told her to get out. She left, but not the building. Our apartment was on the second floor. She went down into rather a large garden and she thought that she would look, maybe, maybe, there is something there... and amongst other things, in the dirt, thrown out ...all of these things which were very dear to us went into the rubbish, into the dirt of the garden. That's where she found one of the things - the cup and saucer - this belonged to Naomi and it was part of a tea set which we used to play with...Well, that's all I have from one cousin. From the other cousins I have nothing. So, yes, it is really something which I cherish and I though that it should be in the right place, where it is, at the Sydney Jewish Museum."
Marika Weinberger was born Eva Marianna Cierer on 7 August 1928 in Kosice, Czechoslovakia. The traditional Jewish family consisted of Marika, her elder sister Edita, and their parents Irena (nee Aschheim) and Vojtech (Albert) Cierer. Soon after Marika was born they moved to Zilina, Slovakia, where her father worked for the insurance company Phönix. In 1939, to escape the escalating persecutions of Nazi collaborators, the family returned to Kosice.
Vojtech bought Hungarian citizenship papers for the family and with these they moved to Hungary, where it was believed Jews were more protected. However, Vojtech lost his directorship of Phönix under new anti-Jewish laws and was forced into a labour camp. He became seriously ill in the camp and was permitted to return home. On 4 June 1944, following the German occupation of Hungary, Marika was transported to Auschwitz with her sister, her parents, an aunt, and her two grandmothers. She never saw her parents or grandparents again.
Marika survived a year in concentration camps across Europe. She was transferred almost immediately to Riga-Kaiserwald, then to Stutthof in Danzig, then in August 1944, to Glöwen near Berlin; a subcamp of Sachsenhausen. Marika, her sister Edita and her aunt Olga spent eight months in Glöwen where they suffered extreme hunger, cold and brutal treatment by the SS guards. In mid-April 1945 they were sent on a 'death march' to Malchow, a subcamp of Ravensbrück, where they were liberated on 2 May 1945. Marika attributes her survival in many ways to her sister and aunt, who dragged her to work when she was ill and, on the death march, held her upright between their shoulders as she sleep-walked through sights she still can't recall.
On their return to Kosice they were reunited with Uncle Peter. They were the only survivors of the Cierer and Aschheim extended families.
Marika met Alex Weinberger in June 1945 in Hungary. They were married on 24 March 1946, and afterwards moved to Paris following the installation of the communist government. Alex had great language skills and was fluent in Czech, Hungarian, German, Yiddish and Hebrew. He found work with a Jewish newspaper in Paris and the family, which grew to include daughter Kathy, began to prosper once more.
Eventually, with the help of 'the Joint' (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) and the Australian Jewish Welfare Society, the Weinbergers journeyed to Australia. Marika, Alex and Kathy arrived in Sydney on 5 May 1950 on board the MV Surriento. Living first in Brisbane, Alex and his brother George established a furniture factory and Marika concentrated on being a wife and mother to Kathy and their second daughter, Yvonne. In 1958 the Weinberger family moved to Melbourne and then in 1963 to Sydney.
Public life for Marika began with her participation in the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors. In 1990, Marika became president of the association. She was integral to the establishment of the Sydney Jewish Museum and volunteered at the museum since its opening. She was vice-president of the museum for some time.
"Naomi was my young cousin. And unfortunately, in 1944 she perished together with her mother and brother, Avikdor, in Auschwitz. That's what we know about her. My uncle, Dr Cierer, her father, perished the same year. We don't exactly know where, but that part of the family was completely lost. Now after liberation, when we came back to what we thought would be 'home again', my sister, seven years my senior, decided that she is going to go back to our old apartment just to have a look what happened. She wasn't exactly welcome. And they told her to get out. She left, but not the building. Our apartment was on the second floor. She went down into rather a large garden and she thought that she would look, maybe, maybe, there is something there... and amongst other things, in the dirt, thrown out ...all of these things which were very dear to us went into the rubbish, into the dirt of the garden. That's where she found one of the things - the cup and saucer - this belonged to Naomi and it was part of a tea set which we used to play with...Well, that's all I have from one cousin. From the other cousins I have nothing. So, yes, it is really something which I cherish and I though that it should be in the right place, where it is, at the Sydney Jewish Museum."
Marika Weinberger was born Eva Marianna Cierer on 7 August 1928 in Kosice, Czechoslovakia. The traditional Jewish family consisted of Marika, her elder sister Edita, and their parents Irena (nee Aschheim) and Vojtech (Albert) Cierer. Soon after Marika was born they moved to Zilina, Slovakia, where her father worked for the insurance company Phönix. In 1939, to escape the escalating persecutions of Nazi collaborators, the family returned to Kosice.
Vojtech bought Hungarian citizenship papers for the family and with these they moved to Hungary, where it was believed Jews were more protected. However, Vojtech lost his directorship of Phönix under new anti-Jewish laws and was forced into a labour camp. He became seriously ill in the camp and was permitted to return home. On 4 June 1944, following the German occupation of Hungary, Marika was transported to Auschwitz with her sister, her parents, an aunt, and her two grandmothers. She never saw her parents or grandparents again.
Marika survived a year in concentration camps across Europe. She was transferred almost immediately to Riga-Kaiserwald, then to Stutthof in Danzig, then in August 1944, to Glöwen near Berlin; a subcamp of Sachsenhausen. Marika, her sister Edita and her aunt Olga spent eight months in Glöwen where they suffered extreme hunger, cold and brutal treatment by the SS guards. In mid-April 1945 they were sent on a 'death march' to Malchow, a subcamp of Ravensbrück, where they were liberated on 2 May 1945. Marika attributes her survival in many ways to her sister and aunt, who dragged her to work when she was ill and, on the death march, held her upright between their shoulders as she sleep-walked through sights she still can't recall.
On their return to Kosice they were reunited with Uncle Peter. They were the only survivors of the Cierer and Aschheim extended families.
Marika met Alex Weinberger in June 1945 in Hungary. They were married on 24 March 1946, and afterwards moved to Paris following the installation of the communist government. Alex had great language skills and was fluent in Czech, Hungarian, German, Yiddish and Hebrew. He found work with a Jewish newspaper in Paris and the family, which grew to include daughter Kathy, began to prosper once more.
Eventually, with the help of 'the Joint' (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) and the Australian Jewish Welfare Society, the Weinbergers journeyed to Australia. Marika, Alex and Kathy arrived in Sydney on 5 May 1950 on board the MV Surriento. Living first in Brisbane, Alex and his brother George established a furniture factory and Marika concentrated on being a wife and mother to Kathy and their second daughter, Yvonne. In 1958 the Weinberger family moved to Melbourne and then in 1963 to Sydney.
Public life for Marika began with her participation in the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors. In 1990, Marika became president of the association. She was integral to the establishment of the Sydney Jewish Museum and volunteered at the museum since its opening. She was vice-president of the museum for some time.
Production date circa 1910
Object nametea-sets
Materialceramic, porcelain
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Marika Weinberger