Object numberM1992/013
DescriptionHalf of a scarf, with blue and red polka dots. The scarf belonged to Magda Spira (nee Edelmann) who was deported in 1944, aged 19, to Kaiserwald concentration camp, near Riga, Latvia. She was assigned to work in the camp sorting prisoners' belongings, searching for hidden valuables. She found a gold coin, bought some bread, and used the bread to barter with another inmate for the scarf which was cut in half. She wanted to retain some dignity by covering her shaved head. She kept the scarf throughout her ordeal, often having to hide it.
Magda Spira (nee Edelmann) was born in Kassa (Kosice), Slovakia, on 4 December 1924. She had three sisters (one of whom was her twin sister) Eva, Judith and Katherine and a brother Lesley. Her mother was Thereza Goldberger and her father Joseph Edelmann was a World War I veteran. She and her family were forced to live in the Kosice ghetto, then deported to Auschwitz, where she was separated from her parents who were murdered. After about five days she and her sisters were taken to Kaiserwald, a concentration camp near Riga, Latvia. They remained together.
In Kaiserwald Magda acquired this half scarf. She was assigned to work in the camp sorting belongings, unpicking clothing and to search for hidden valuables such as gold and jewellery. Whilst sorting these belongings she found a gold coin that she decided to steal. With the coin she bought a slice of bread. Another girl in the camp had managed to acquire a square scarf so Magda swapped the bread for half the scarf. Magda attached two strings to the ends to wear it but was afraid of getting beaten, and decided to hide it. As Magda states in her VHA testimony: “All the time we had to sort the dresses and the shoes, unpick things, what was in it… gold, earrings… once I was stealing a gold money, I thought I would buy my sisters something... and I was going out and I had the money in my hand and I bought for a slice of bread, I bought myself a half scarf, I sold that money for a slice of bread, and from that bread I bought a half scarf… I was carrying it home… one girl managed to get a full scarf… a square one in cotton and because my head was shaved I thought I am going to look better… so I put two strings in the end and made myself, bought that half scarf. I wanted to use it but I got in so much trouble that I thought I was going to get belting for it, but I kept the scarf, I was carrying it all the way through with me. I just wanted to look better because my head was shaved… It was vanity.” Magda says that the other half was also sold.
Magda was later deported to Magdeburg where she worked in an aluminium factory. Later on the forced ‘death march’ the girls were abandoned by the Germans. Magda and her sisters began to make their way home; she wore the scarf on her journey home. Her brother Lesley survived by hiding in the forest with partisans during the war. Magda met her husband in June 1946; they married a few months later in September 1946. Her son Peter was born before they migrated to Israel in 1949. Magda and her family stayed in Israel for seven years before immigrating to Australia, joining her brother who had migrated in 1949. Gradually each sister migrated to Australia so they could be together.
Magda Spira (nee Edelmann) was born in Kassa (Kosice), Slovakia, on 4 December 1924. She had three sisters (one of whom was her twin sister) Eva, Judith and Katherine and a brother Lesley. Her mother was Thereza Goldberger and her father Joseph Edelmann was a World War I veteran. She and her family were forced to live in the Kosice ghetto, then deported to Auschwitz, where she was separated from her parents who were murdered. After about five days she and her sisters were taken to Kaiserwald, a concentration camp near Riga, Latvia. They remained together.
In Kaiserwald Magda acquired this half scarf. She was assigned to work in the camp sorting belongings, unpicking clothing and to search for hidden valuables such as gold and jewellery. Whilst sorting these belongings she found a gold coin that she decided to steal. With the coin she bought a slice of bread. Another girl in the camp had managed to acquire a square scarf so Magda swapped the bread for half the scarf. Magda attached two strings to the ends to wear it but was afraid of getting beaten, and decided to hide it. As Magda states in her VHA testimony: “All the time we had to sort the dresses and the shoes, unpick things, what was in it… gold, earrings… once I was stealing a gold money, I thought I would buy my sisters something... and I was going out and I had the money in my hand and I bought for a slice of bread, I bought myself a half scarf, I sold that money for a slice of bread, and from that bread I bought a half scarf… I was carrying it home… one girl managed to get a full scarf… a square one in cotton and because my head was shaved I thought I am going to look better… so I put two strings in the end and made myself, bought that half scarf. I wanted to use it but I got in so much trouble that I thought I was going to get belting for it, but I kept the scarf, I was carrying it all the way through with me. I just wanted to look better because my head was shaved… It was vanity.” Magda says that the other half was also sold.
Magda was later deported to Magdeburg where she worked in an aluminium factory. Later on the forced ‘death march’ the girls were abandoned by the Germans. Magda and her sisters began to make their way home; she wore the scarf on her journey home. Her brother Lesley survived by hiding in the forest with partisans during the war. Magda met her husband in June 1946; they married a few months later in September 1946. Her son Peter was born before they migrated to Israel in 1949. Magda and her family stayed in Israel for seven years before immigrating to Australia, joining her brother who had migrated in 1949. Gradually each sister migrated to Australia so they could be together.
Production date 1940 - 1945
Subjectconcentration camps, survivors, resistance
Object namescarfs
Materialfibres (fabrics)
Dimensions
- width: 650.00 mm
height: 360.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs Magda Spira