Arbeitsbuch fur Auslander
Object numberM2012/024:001
TitleArbeitsbuch fur Auslander
CreatorWorks Authority Germany
DescriptionWork permit for foreign workers issued to Ruth Kroll (nee Gerstl) in the name of Bronislawa Chrnanowska, a false name chosen because it belonged to her Polish teacher, a name she would not forget. The date of birth is Ruth’s real birthday. The document enabled her to obtain work in Germany. To obtain the permit, Ruth claimed that all her documents were destroyed in the bombing of Hamburg. The town she chose for where she was born is a place which Ruth had witnessed being destroyed by the Germans and she knew that it would be impossible to verify whether she was from there.
Part of a collection of items belonging to Ruth Kroll, including a pair of silver-plated Shabbat candlesticks from Ruth’s family home which were saved by a non-Jewish family friend and returned to Ruth after the war.
Ruth Krol (nee Gerstl) was born 14 January 1920 in Katowice, Poland. Both German and Polish were spoken in the city; the family spoke German at home. Her parents were businesspeople and had a shop. The family was modern orthodox and associated themselves more with Germans. With Hitler’s rise to power, Ruth experienced a change in attitude towards the Jewish students. When war began, Ruth’s father took the children (Ruth and her 14-year-old brother) further inland for safety but returned a few weeks later and took them back home. Upon returning, Ruth witnessed the synagogue destroyed and the family business confiscated. Her father was soon deported for forced labour, and she never saw him again.
Ruth’s brother was also called up for forced labour, and a few months after that she, her mother and aunt were transferred to the Chrzanow ghetto. Her mother had a fairly senior job because of her language and secretarial skills so was able to protect Ruth for a while. When the ghetto was liquidated Ruth was transferred to Neusalz concentration camp. There she worked with spinning machines which was dangerous work. She and a friend managed to escape, and boarded a train which was full of German refugees from Hamburg, so she was able to blend in. She went to Breslau where eventually a man, Gustav Wagner, helped her. They found her a place to hide. She continued to use the Hamburg story as a cover. She got a job working in the fields until she someone suspected she was Jewish. Wagner then helped her get a work permit and she got a job at a restaurant, eventually becoming the cook.
After the war Ruth returned to Katowice. Soon after she married Jan Kroll. An aunt in Paris arranged a visa for them to go there for a few years. They arrived in Australia in 1949.
Part of a collection of items belonging to Ruth Kroll, including a pair of silver-plated Shabbat candlesticks from Ruth’s family home which were saved by a non-Jewish family friend and returned to Ruth after the war.
Ruth Krol (nee Gerstl) was born 14 January 1920 in Katowice, Poland. Both German and Polish were spoken in the city; the family spoke German at home. Her parents were businesspeople and had a shop. The family was modern orthodox and associated themselves more with Germans. With Hitler’s rise to power, Ruth experienced a change in attitude towards the Jewish students. When war began, Ruth’s father took the children (Ruth and her 14-year-old brother) further inland for safety but returned a few weeks later and took them back home. Upon returning, Ruth witnessed the synagogue destroyed and the family business confiscated. Her father was soon deported for forced labour, and she never saw him again.
Ruth’s brother was also called up for forced labour, and a few months after that she, her mother and aunt were transferred to the Chrzanow ghetto. Her mother had a fairly senior job because of her language and secretarial skills so was able to protect Ruth for a while. When the ghetto was liquidated Ruth was transferred to Neusalz concentration camp. There she worked with spinning machines which was dangerous work. She and a friend managed to escape, and boarded a train which was full of German refugees from Hamburg, so she was able to blend in. She went to Breslau where eventually a man, Gustav Wagner, helped her. They found her a place to hide. She continued to use the Hamburg story as a cover. She got a job working in the fields until she someone suspected she was Jewish. Wagner then helped her get a work permit and she got a job at a restaurant, eventually becoming the cook.
After the war Ruth returned to Katowice. Soon after she married Jan Kroll. An aunt in Paris arranged a visa for them to go there for a few years. They arrived in Australia in 1949.
Production placePoland
Production date circa 1940
Object namework cards
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 150.00 mm
length: 105.00 mm
Language
- German
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Arthur Cario