Marianne, age 11 1/2 and her mother Rosa Kohn incarcerated in a ghetto in occupied Poland in 1941.
Object numberM2009/031:002
TitleMarianne, age 11 1/2 and her mother Rosa Kohn incarcerated in a ghetto in occupied Poland in 1941.
DescriptionB/W scanned photograph of Marianne Lawan (nee Kohn), aged 11 1/2 with her mother, Rosa Kohn (nee Hefter), wearing the cloth Star of David patch on their clothes. The photo was taken in Teschen, she says. Teschen was a border town near the Czech and Polish borders, but was technically part of Poland in 1939 when the war began. The cloth stars Marianne and Rosa are wearing are a sign of the official Jewish stigma in occupied Poland. Soon after this photo was taken, Rosa was taken to the Warsaw Ghetto and was never heard from again. Marianne ended up in a ghetto near Katowice, in Upper Silesia, and spent the war years in a forced labour camp. At the end of the war Marianne was 16 and alone, the rest of her family having perished. She came to Australia on her own in 1948 and married on 21 June 1949. On the back of the card is dated 1941.
Production placeTeschen, Poland
Production date 1941
Subjectmothers, daughters, badges, Star of David, discrimination, ghettos, stigma, armbands
Object namephotographs
Materialphotographic emulsion, paper, paper
Dimensions
- width: 180.00 mm
height: 130.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Marianne Lawan