Objekt des Monats
Jedes Objekt in der Sammlung des Deutschen Auswandererhauses erzählt eine ganz persönliche Auswanderungs- oder Einwanderungsgeschichte. In dieser Rubrik stellen wir Ihnen jeden Monat ein anderes Objekt vor – eine Fotografie, ein Dokument oder ein persönliches Erinnerungsstück.
November 2018
D. P. Identification Card (Reproduction) from 1946
Historical Context
D. P. stands for ‘Displaced Person’ – this was the term used by the Allies for the eleven million surviving concentration camp inmates, forced laborers, and prisoners of war, who were victims of the National Socialist terror regime. Since many had lost their identification papers, they were issued such an ‘Identification Card’. In November 2018, the Reich Pogrom Night on November 9 will be commemorated for the 80th time. On this night, National Socialists and sympathizing citizens set synagogues on fire in Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Austria, destroying the businesses and homes of Jewish fellow citizens. Thousands of Jews were arrested, abused, and killed. Six million Jews were murdered in National Socialist concentration camps by 1945. Most survivors went to the USA or Palestine as ‘Displaced Persons’.
Short Biography
Sam Weiss was born on November 27, 1929, in Velky Sevlush, a small town in Czechoslovakia. He grew up under the most difficult conditions near the annexation of the rest of Czechoslovakia. When his father died in 1940, he helped to secure the food rations for the family. Since he had to wear the Jewish star, this was a hard task and always carried a great risk.
On May 29, 1944, he was deported to Auschwitz together with his mother and his six younger siblings. Only his older brother Arnim was able to escape to Hungary with false papers between 1944 and 1945. Upon arrival, he was separated from his family and was the sole survivor of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. His mother and younger siblings were killed in the gas chambers.
After his liberation at the end of the war, Sam Weiss begins searching for more relatives. In the process, he finds his father’s brother in Reichenberg and eventually discovers an aunt living in New York during his research. He spends the next two years in a displaced persons camp in Bad Salzschlirf near Fulda, waiting for the opportunity to emigrate to the USA. On December 14, 1947, he is given the opportunity for the crossing with the military transport “SS Marine Tiger” thanks to a sponsorship. After an eleven-day journey, he reaches New York on December 25, 1947. He lives and works there until he decides in 1956 to visit his brother Arnim in Los Angeles. A year later, he travels to Mexico, where he meets his future wife, Margarita Weiss, née Malke, whom he marries within a few weeks. Together, they return to Los Angeles and have two children.
In 2013, Sam Weiss dies at the age of 83 after a severe illness.
Significance of the Object
The identification card is issued in the name “WEISS SAMUEL.” He receives this on August 16, 1946, at the age of 16 in a displaced persons camp in Bad Salzschlirf. The term displaced persons was coined by sociologist and migration researcher Eugene M. Kulischer and refers to an involuntary departure from one’s homeland and the resulting “rootlessness.” To this day, the term is used by refugee organizations such as the UNHCR, particularly for “internally displaced persons”—refugees who have been forcibly resettled within their own country due to war and violence. In 2017, the number of internally displaced persons worldwide was approximately 40 million.
Do You Also Have …
… a story of emigration or immigration in your family that you would like to share with the German Emigration Center together with the related objects and documents for its collection? Then please contact Dr. Tanja Fittkau by phone at +49 471 / 90 22 0 – 0
or by e-mail at: t.fittkau@dah-bremerhaven.de