My great uncle was the rabbi in Galecia, Poland.  Before the war he was a rabbi, shochet, mohel, did weddings...  During the holocaust Rabbi Chaim R., my grandfather, his brother, and sister were in hiding and survived the war.  From 1945-1948 my grandfather, Joseph R., and Rabbi Chaim R. lived in Reigensburg, Germany.  There Chaim continued to be a Rabbi and Joseph continued to be a furrier.  This knife was used to perform circumcisions by Chaim R. and was brought to the U.S. and kept by my grandfather, where it was no longer used.

It is a mohel knife used for circumcision.  It is important because every Jewish boy must have a brit milah. The brit milah is our identity, it "says" that we are Jews.