Comb gifted to Sonia Sankey at Stutthof Concentration Camp
Номер объектаM1993/009:003
НазваниеComb gifted to Sonia Sankey at Stutthof Concentration Camp
ОписаниеThin-toothed comb with left end teeth broken off. Material unknown: possibly plastic or bone. This comb was given as a 19th birthday gift to Sonia Ferder (later Sankey) by her friends whilst incarcerated at Stutthof concentration camp (northern Poland), 23 April 1942. The comb was kept inside a hand-embroidered comb case (see object M1993/009:004).
Sonia arrived there from Kaiserwald concentration camp, Riga (modern day Latvia), via a boat that travelled on the Baltic Sea. She described that when she arrived in Stutthof again we had to go through this whole ritual, who is going to live and who is not going to live when they were taken to the baths and other prisoners were taken to a gas chamber. During her time in Stutthof, Sonia was forced to clean up houses that were destroyed during the bombings and in workshops. Her father Fishel Ferder, whom she'd previously been separated from, was also transported to Stutthof but they did not reunite here. She was then transported to Magdeburg sub-camp of Buchenwald (eastern Germany).
Sonia Sankey (nee Ferder) was born in Grodno, Poland on 23 March 1923. When she was a baby the family moved to Vilna, an intellectual town with a strong Jewish culture. Sonia lived with her parents, siblings and grandfather. She had three siblings, an older sister Feiga, an older brother Akiva, and a younger sister Raya. Her two sisters survived the concentration camps and her brother survived by leaving Vilna before the war for Palestine. She and her family were taken to Vilna ghetto, after the Germans invaded Poland. When she heard the ghetto was going to be liquidated, she and a friend escaped with the help of a Lithuanian guard. He helped her to get a job in a factory at Vilna-Kailis Labour Camp, until it was also liquidated five months later. She was then taken to Riga, Stutthof and Buchenwald (Magdeburg-Polte) concentration camps consecutively. In April 1945, the Gestapo ordered the inmates at Buchenwald to march to an unknown destination. She escaped during this march by hiding in a barn with a friend. They travelled to Zehdenick (north-west Germany) and worked briefly on a farm until the Germans surrendered. She was 22 at the time of liberation on 11 April 1945. After liberation, Sonia crossed the Elbe River to escape from the Soviet occupied area of Germany to the French/American side.
She then travelled to Paris where she stayed for three months. In Paris she began to inquire about her family, and met with a cousin. She then moved to Israel. She learned that her mother Malka was murdered during the Ponary Massacre (1941-1944) and her father, Fishel, died in Stutthof concentration camp, possibly from Typhus.
Sonia arrived there from Kaiserwald concentration camp, Riga (modern day Latvia), via a boat that travelled on the Baltic Sea. She described that when she arrived in Stutthof again we had to go through this whole ritual, who is going to live and who is not going to live when they were taken to the baths and other prisoners were taken to a gas chamber. During her time in Stutthof, Sonia was forced to clean up houses that were destroyed during the bombings and in workshops. Her father Fishel Ferder, whom she'd previously been separated from, was also transported to Stutthof but they did not reunite here. She was then transported to Magdeburg sub-camp of Buchenwald (eastern Germany).
Sonia Sankey (nee Ferder) was born in Grodno, Poland on 23 March 1923. When she was a baby the family moved to Vilna, an intellectual town with a strong Jewish culture. Sonia lived with her parents, siblings and grandfather. She had three siblings, an older sister Feiga, an older brother Akiva, and a younger sister Raya. Her two sisters survived the concentration camps and her brother survived by leaving Vilna before the war for Palestine. She and her family were taken to Vilna ghetto, after the Germans invaded Poland. When she heard the ghetto was going to be liquidated, she and a friend escaped with the help of a Lithuanian guard. He helped her to get a job in a factory at Vilna-Kailis Labour Camp, until it was also liquidated five months later. She was then taken to Riga, Stutthof and Buchenwald (Magdeburg-Polte) concentration camps consecutively. In April 1945, the Gestapo ordered the inmates at Buchenwald to march to an unknown destination. She escaped during this march by hiding in a barn with a friend. They travelled to Zehdenick (north-west Germany) and worked briefly on a farm until the Germans surrendered. She was 22 at the time of liberation on 11 April 1945. After liberation, Sonia crossed the Elbe River to escape from the Soviet occupied area of Germany to the French/American side.
She then travelled to Paris where she stayed for three months. In Paris she began to inquire about her family, and met with a cousin. She then moved to Israel. She learned that her mother Malka was murdered during the Ponary Massacre (1941-1944) and her father, Fishel, died in Stutthof concentration camp, possibly from Typhus.
Наименованиеcombs
Материалplastic
Размерность
- width: 120.00 mm
height: 34.00 mm
Кредитная линияSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs. Sonia Sankey