Paper and Ink
These artifacts are books, papers or photos that have a special meaning to our families.
Travel Journal
Europe
My artifact is my great grandma Mary Mann\'s travel journal. It is a small book with a brown heavy cardboard cover. Imprinted on the cover is the title \"My Travels\" above an imprint of a gold globe. The cover is worn and tattered, and the pages are brown and very fragile.
This travel journal contains many amazing adventures of Mary Mann\'s life, starting from February 27, 1930. Mary vividly tracks her three month Transatlantic journey and travels through Europe, Turkey, Egypt, and Sudan. Most interestingly, she writes about her 3-week stay in what was then known as Palestine. She met many influential rabbis and people, including Henrietta Szold, the founder of Hadassah. She visited all of Palestine from Tiberias to Haifa to Jerusalem to Tel Aviv to the Dead Sea.
This journal is very important to my family for many reasons. My great-grandmother Mary died when my grandfather was only 13 years old - right after his Bar Mitzvah. My mom was named after her, and she loved to hear her father tell stories about his mother. She particularly liked to hear about how adventurous and strongly committed to Judaism her grandmother Mary was. This journal gives my family a window into my great-grandmother\'s travels over 80 years ago. At that time, it was very unusual for a young, single woman to travel by herself, especially to such faraway places. My great-grandmother remained active in Jewish groups like Hadassah until she died, and now my mother is an active member of Hadassah and loves teaching us about Judaism. Together, my parents traveled to Israel in 1998 for its 50th anniversary of statehood, and my mom tells me she felt my grandmother\'s spirit when she was in Jerusalem. This artifact is very special to me.
Display Stand & Photo
Israel
My mother Sandy
My artifact is made of a bronze-like metal with painted enamel decorations. The stand has a horizontal rectangular base and a vertical rectangle standing up in the back. The base has little decorations of blue, red, purple, and yellow enamel paint. The back part has the enamel symbols of the twelve tribes in the middle, with a blue and red crown above them. On top of that are some triangles that look like mountains and then a blue Star of David. The sides are light brown and look like tree trunks.
This artifact is very special to my family. This picture holder/display stand was used by my Grandpa to hold a picture of his parents. When he passed away, my mom took it, and it became an heirloom in our family. Now, my family keeps one of the last pictures taken of my Grandpa. It was taken on Father\'s Day before he passed away. My mom, my aunt and my uncle are also in the picture.
Letter
New Jersey
Sylvia S.
My artifact is a letter to my grandma from my granpa during World War II. It is four pages long. It is written in script in black ink. It is dated April 27, 1944, and it talks about what he did that day. I think the postage was free because the letter came from a military base and was going to the naval clothing department.
My grandpa was a prison guard and an administrative clerk during World War II. He guarded the Italian prisoners so they wouldn\'t escape. He also kept records and many other things for the other soldiers. These were very important jobs. My grandpa\'s name was Morris. During the war, he would write to my grandma, Sylvia almost every day, and she wrote back. This shows that even though my grandpa was working, he loved my grandma so much that he wrote to her every day. My grandma keeps these letters to remember my grandpa, who passed away a few years ago.
Photograph in Frame
USA
My artifact is a picture of my great-grandpa Jacob. This kind of picture is tintype. It is on a metal or iron surface. The picture is a 3x2 inch rectangle in a 5 1/2x3 1/2 cardboard frame. It was taken in Washington, DC and there is a drawing of the Capitol building on the frame.
For a career, my great-grandpa was many things. One of those things was a photographer. When he was a photographer, it was during the time of the tintype photos. He liked to take pictures of himself. At this time, he was on a business trip to Washington, DC and posed for this picture.
World War II Photograph
Belgium
This artifact is a black and white photograph of my great-grandparents. Their names were Henry and Anna Rose. They are walking down a street in Brussels, Belgium sometime in 1942. You can see the Star of David that they were forced to wear on their clothing. This 8x10 photo was enlarged from a smaller photo that survived the war.
This artifact is meaningful to me because it tells me what my family had to go through in the past. It shows how they felt during the Holocaust. I would think they would be sad just wearing that star, but my great-grandparents were just trying to live their lives as best they could. Many of the rights of Jews had been taken away. This picture reminds me not to forget the Holocaust because the Nazis had persecuted my family. It is important for all Jews not to forget the Holocaust.