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Jüdisches Museum Berlin

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No Longer in the Country

Unusual Objects from Our Core Exhibition Tell Stories of Jewish Life

Six membership cards of the Frankfurt Jewish Community, stamped in 1949 — Unclaimed membership cards for the Jewish community Frankfurt am Main, 1949; Jewish Museum Berlin, photos: Roman März

After the war, nearly one thousand displaced persons (DPs) lived with their children in Frankfurt am Main. When the Jewish community admitted them in 1949, it had membership cards made, but two-thirds were never picked up.

The surviving cards show no signs of use. Their intended owners had probably already left Germany for Israel or the United States.

Unclaimed Membership Cards

Membership card with passport photo of a woman in a flowered top — Membership card of Dora Tauber, born on 22 Jun 1898; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession NDA/10/133, photo: Roman März

Membership card of Dora Tauber, born on 22 Jun 1898; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession NDA/10/133, photo: Roman März

Membership card with heart-shaped passport photo, obviously taken from a photo album — Membership card of Josef Baumgarten, born on 3 Jul 1925; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession NDA Rep/125768/0, photo: Roman März

Membership card of Josef Baumgarten, born on 3 Jul 1925; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession NDA Rep/125768/0, photo: Roman März

Membership card with passport photo of a woman — Membership card of Helene Lascher, née Sternfeld, born on 26 May 1912; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession NDA/10/80, photo: Roman März

Membership card of Helene Lascher, née Sternfeld, born on 26 May 1912; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession NDA/10/80, photo: Roman März

Membership card, the photo shows upper body and head of a man, in the background a street and houses — Membership card of Josef Majer Goldberg, born on 12 Mar 1907; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession NDA/10/1, photo: Roman März

Membership card of Josef Majer Goldberg, born on 12 Mar 1907; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession NDA/10/1, photo: Roman März

Membership card of a woman born in Ostrolenki — Membership card of Sala Dresdner, née Schorn, born on 8 Aug 1904; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession NDA/10/32, photo: Roman März

Membership card of Sala Dresdner, née Schorn, born on 8 Aug 1904; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession NDA/10/32, photo: Roman März

Membership card with a negative passport photo, the man was born in Breslau — Membership card of Heinrich Duzing, born on 22 Jul 1919; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession NDA/10/5, photo: Roman März

Membership card of Heinrich Duzing, born on 22 Jul 1919; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession NDA/10/5, photo: Roman März

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Core Exhibition: 13 Objects – 13 Stories (13)

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13 Objects – 13 Stories

A Torah shield, a sculpture, a cushion: 13 unusual objects tell 13 stories of Jewish life. One of the tours of the JMB app leads right through the exhibition to eye-catchers of all kinds, some small, some big. What would a museum be without its many objects, each rich in meaning? You can get a sneak peek of the objects here on our website.

Female statue with traces of rust, missing the head

L’amitié au coeur (Friendship of the Heart)

by Étienne-Maurice Falconet (1716–1791), Paris, 1765, marble

Various crumpled documents with Hebrew letters, a shoe and a bag

Finds from the Memmelsdorf Genizah

Memmelsdorf (find site), ca. 1725–1830, paper, ink, fabric, leather, porcelain

Silver Torah shield with gilded columns and lions holding law tablets

Torah Shield

donated by Isaak Jakob Gans (1723–1798), Hamburg, 1760–1765, silver

Sculpture of a library made of lead with inserted glass fragments

Shevirat ha-Kelim (Breaking of the Vessels)

Anselm Kiefer, 1990–2019, lead, iron, glass, copper wire, charcoal, Aquatec

Oil painting with a family scene

Manheimer Family Portrait

by Julius Moser (1805–1879), Berlin, 1850, oil on canvas

Puppet with a crown and moving parts, which are connected with rivets

Puppet Show

King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Käte Baer-Freyer (1885–1988), Berlin, ca. 1924, plywood, metals

White pillow with blue script

Decorated Cushion

“ISRAELI, JEW, and now SEVERELY DISABLED ...,” Daniel Josefsohn (1961–2016), Berlin, 2014/15, textile

Glass showcase full of tableware, cutlery and other silver objects

Silver Formerly Owned by Jews

Provenance: up to 1939 unknown Jewish owners, 1939 Hamburg Tax Authority

Opened album with pictures of the Chicago skyline, a skyscraper, a painting, and handwritten text

Going-away Present

Bruno Heidenheim, Album to bid farewell to Margot (1913–2010) and Ernst (1898–1971) Rosenthal, Chemnitz, 1936

Silver washbasin with flowers and ornaments, in the middle a Hebrew inscription

Hand Washbasin

Manufacturer: S. & D. Loewenthal, Frankfurt am Main, 1895/96, silver

Membership card with a heart-formed photo

No Longer in the Country

Unclaimed membership cards for the Jewish community Frankfurt am Main, 1949

Abstract painting in blue, black and yellow tones

Composition

by Otto Freundlich (1878–1943), 1938, tempera on cardboard

Yellow star with the word Jude (Jew) on it

Yellow Star

of the Lehmann family, Berlin, 1941–1945

More on This Topic …

Displaced Persons

Online Showcase

Digital presentation of our archive collections on different topics, video projects, and more

At a Glance…

Colorful glittering curtain in motion

Jewish Life in Germany: Past and Present

More about our core exhibition

Exhibition
since Aug 2020

JMB App

The Jewish Museum Berlin Audio Guide

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