Jood
Object numberM1993/029:010
TitleJood
DescriptionYellow cloth Star of David badge, with word 'Jood' (Dutch for Jew) printed in the centre. The star has been lined with a blue/white striped fabric and it has a little opening at the back so that it can be buttoned to a garment. It was given to Michael Sheridan who served as part of the British Liberation Army from 06/06/1944 until 02/09/1946, by William and Yetta Asser of Tilburg, Netherlands after liberation of the town in August 1944.
From 3 May 1942 all Jews aged six and over in the Netherlands had to wear Stars of David, the aim being to publicly identify Jews and to further isolate them from the general community. The star had to be sewn onto a garment on the left at chest height. The material was made from the former Jewish factory N.V. Stoomweverij De Nijverheid in Enschede, then in German hands. The stars cost four cents apiece. The Jewish Council was informed about the measure by the German occupying authorities on 29 April 1942, was told to distribute the stars and explain how they were to be worn.
Michael Sheridan (previously Shernovsky until he joined the army) was born in Whitechapel, London on 2 November 1917, to Herschel and Sarah who had emigrated from Poland. He was one of seven children. His father was a kosher butcher who worked for the London Beth Din. Michael left school at the age of 14 and went to work for a local radio firm before his father asked him to help with his newly opened business. Michael enlisted in the British Army on 22 March 1939. On 12 July 1939 he married his wife Anne. His first son David was born in 1940, and his daughter Gloria was born in 1942; after the war his youngest son Barry was born in 1954.
Michael served in the Home Service up until 3 June 1944, where he trained as a machine gunner before being transferred to the Royal Engineers where he served as a mechanical equipment operator, operating bulldozers. He landed in France on D-Day. From France, he went into Belgium where he served in Lille and Ghent. From there he moved on to the Netherlands where he stayed in a town called Tilberg for two to three days. In Tilburg he assisted in the task of cleaning up the local synagogue that had been desecrated by the withdrawing German army. At the synagogue he met two Jewish families including William and Yetta Asser. These families had managed to hide during the war and Michael supplied them with food during his stay in Tilburg. In thanks for his assistance William Asser gave Michael his yellow Star of David (M1993/029:010).
Michael’s company was then attached to the American 9th Army for a number of weeks in order to learn their methods of building roads and airfields. They entered Germany where in Rheine, Michael picked up Hitler Youth Papers (M1993/029:013) on the side of the road, and also took some medals from a dead German soldier. His company entered Bergen-Belsen mid-April 1945, and he was assigned the job of moving bodies into burial pits with a bulldozer.
His company was later transferred to Berlin where he served with the occupation forces, policing and keeping the population under control, and repairing damaged buildings for the use of the occupying army. He was with the British Army of Occupation from 1945 until he was discharged in 1946. Michael went back to London to work as a radio mechanic, eventually starting up his own electronics business. When his son David immigrated to Australia in 1965 and married, the Sheridan’s visited Australia, fell in love with the country and upon returning to Britain they decided to immigrate. In 1969 he and his family immigrated to Australia.
History of the yellow star:
Since the Middle Ages Jews had been intermittently forced to wear markings that separated them from the general population. Signalling a return to such discrimination in Nazi occupied Poland in October 1939, the Jews of Wloclawek were forced to wear a yellow badge. Similar initiatives occurred throughout occupied Poland, and on the 23 November 1939, a general order was issued that all Polish Jews over the age of 11 wear a white armband with a blue Star of David. In September 1941, the Nazis introduced a yellow star in Germany. This Jewish badge became the distinguishing emblem that Jews in Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied countries were forced to wear to enable their debasement and identification as Jews.
This regulation required all Jews over the age of six to wear a yellow, six-pointed star, the size of a fist, on the left side of the breast, with ‘Jude’ inscribed on it in black. The date of its application, as well as the word embossed on it, varied across Nazi-occupied territories. In occupied France, the decree to wear the yellow star inscribed with ‘Juif’ (Jew), came into effect on 3 June 1942; in the Netherlands, the yellow star was inscribed with Jood (Jew), issued on 29 April 1942, and in Bulgaria, the distinctive sign for a Jew/Jewess took the form of a yellow and black button sewn onto clothing, issued in August 1942. In some countries like Hungary, Romania and Moldavia Jews wore yellow stars without any lettering. The distinctive mark imposed on Jews became an integral part of the preparation for the Final Solution.
From 3 May 1942 all Jews aged six and over in the Netherlands had to wear Stars of David, the aim being to publicly identify Jews and to further isolate them from the general community. The star had to be sewn onto a garment on the left at chest height. The material was made from the former Jewish factory N.V. Stoomweverij De Nijverheid in Enschede, then in German hands. The stars cost four cents apiece. The Jewish Council was informed about the measure by the German occupying authorities on 29 April 1942, was told to distribute the stars and explain how they were to be worn.
Michael Sheridan (previously Shernovsky until he joined the army) was born in Whitechapel, London on 2 November 1917, to Herschel and Sarah who had emigrated from Poland. He was one of seven children. His father was a kosher butcher who worked for the London Beth Din. Michael left school at the age of 14 and went to work for a local radio firm before his father asked him to help with his newly opened business. Michael enlisted in the British Army on 22 March 1939. On 12 July 1939 he married his wife Anne. His first son David was born in 1940, and his daughter Gloria was born in 1942; after the war his youngest son Barry was born in 1954.
Michael served in the Home Service up until 3 June 1944, where he trained as a machine gunner before being transferred to the Royal Engineers where he served as a mechanical equipment operator, operating bulldozers. He landed in France on D-Day. From France, he went into Belgium where he served in Lille and Ghent. From there he moved on to the Netherlands where he stayed in a town called Tilberg for two to three days. In Tilburg he assisted in the task of cleaning up the local synagogue that had been desecrated by the withdrawing German army. At the synagogue he met two Jewish families including William and Yetta Asser. These families had managed to hide during the war and Michael supplied them with food during his stay in Tilburg. In thanks for his assistance William Asser gave Michael his yellow Star of David (M1993/029:010).
Michael’s company was then attached to the American 9th Army for a number of weeks in order to learn their methods of building roads and airfields. They entered Germany where in Rheine, Michael picked up Hitler Youth Papers (M1993/029:013) on the side of the road, and also took some medals from a dead German soldier. His company entered Bergen-Belsen mid-April 1945, and he was assigned the job of moving bodies into burial pits with a bulldozer.
His company was later transferred to Berlin where he served with the occupation forces, policing and keeping the population under control, and repairing damaged buildings for the use of the occupying army. He was with the British Army of Occupation from 1945 until he was discharged in 1946. Michael went back to London to work as a radio mechanic, eventually starting up his own electronics business. When his son David immigrated to Australia in 1965 and married, the Sheridan’s visited Australia, fell in love with the country and upon returning to Britain they decided to immigrate. In 1969 he and his family immigrated to Australia.
History of the yellow star:
Since the Middle Ages Jews had been intermittently forced to wear markings that separated them from the general population. Signalling a return to such discrimination in Nazi occupied Poland in October 1939, the Jews of Wloclawek were forced to wear a yellow badge. Similar initiatives occurred throughout occupied Poland, and on the 23 November 1939, a general order was issued that all Polish Jews over the age of 11 wear a white armband with a blue Star of David. In September 1941, the Nazis introduced a yellow star in Germany. This Jewish badge became the distinguishing emblem that Jews in Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied countries were forced to wear to enable their debasement and identification as Jews.
This regulation required all Jews over the age of six to wear a yellow, six-pointed star, the size of a fist, on the left side of the breast, with ‘Jude’ inscribed on it in black. The date of its application, as well as the word embossed on it, varied across Nazi-occupied territories. In occupied France, the decree to wear the yellow star inscribed with ‘Juif’ (Jew), came into effect on 3 June 1942; in the Netherlands, the yellow star was inscribed with Jood (Jew), issued on 29 April 1942, and in Bulgaria, the distinctive sign for a Jew/Jewess took the form of a yellow and black button sewn onto clothing, issued in August 1942. In some countries like Hungary, Romania and Moldavia Jews wore yellow stars without any lettering. The distinctive mark imposed on Jews became an integral part of the preparation for the Final Solution.
Production date 1942 - 1942
Object nameyellow Star of David
Materialfibres (fabrics)
Dimensions
- width: 110.00 mm
height: 105.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mr. Michael Sheridan