wallet, fabric

Wallet made of upholstery fabric covered with floral designs. The lining is made with salmon coloured material. The wallet has two compartments which have no fastenings. A name tag bearing the initials 'M.L.', embroidered in red, is stitched on the front of one of the compartments.

Marion Gross (née Levy) brought this fabric wallet with her when she was evacuated from Berlin in the Kindertransport: 'My father, Curt Levy, and his brother Alfred, had a wholesale business of soft furnishing material in Berlin. A and C Levy was a corner shop in Poststrasse near Alexander Platz. When I was ten, I made this wallet out of some material from his shop and always kept photographs inside. During the Nazi period my father could not work anymore, and even had to go into hiding. He was very depressed when he lost his business for which he worked all his life. We had to split apart and hide. My father was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and became suicidal. This wallet is all that is left. Today there is an apotheke (drugstore) in its place.' Marion described her experiences as a Kinder: 'I was past 16 years old and could not qualify for the visa but was overlooked as my sister was coming in the Kindertransport. I got myself a visa as a trainee. It was very difficult to get exit visas. My parents discussed whether to go to Sweden or Shanghai. Getting exit permits was terrible we had to go around a table full of Nazis. Each of them would place a stamp. We thought that by the end of the table we would get arrested. I was very frightened while on the train leaving Germany. In several stations were relatives of mine giving their farewells. I remember waving them good bye from the window. We did not suspect that the war was going to happen and would separate us for so many years. In one of the stations was my aunt. She tried to give me her gold medallion with the initials ML. It had belonged to her husband. I was so afraid of the Nazis finding out that I did not let her give it to me. I took one suitcase with me, it was very heavy and I could not move it without help. I was very frightened when the Nazis started to search my suitcase, they did it so carefully and it took such a long time that I thought I was going to miss the train. For that same reason, on the last station before reaching Holland, I took the Reichmarks I had with me, put them in an envelop with my parents address and the inscription: 'Please hand it to: . . . .', and threw the envelope through the window. Needless to say, they never got the money. I went to York to study child nursing and later graduated in more courses. I paid my dues to England! I married an Englishman at 23. My parents managed to escape to Shanghai and eventually immigrated to San Francisco. I did not join my parents in the USA. I did not see them that many times. My sister Inga who is three years younger joined them immediately after the war and stayed there.'

Marion Gross (née Levy) brought this fabric wallet with her when she was evacuated from Berlin in the Kindertransport. She says of the wallet: 'My father, Curt Levy, and his brother Alfred, had a wholesale business of soft furnishing material in Berlin. A and C Levy was a corner shop in Poststrasse near Alexander Platz. When I was ten, I made this wallet out of some material from his shop and always kept photographs inside. During the Nazi period my father could not work anymore, and even had to go into hiding. He was very depressed when he lost his business for which he worked all his life. We had to split apart and hide. My father was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and became suicidal. This wallet is all that is left. Today there is an apotheke (drugstore) in its place.' She also talks about her experiences as a Kinder: 'I was past 16 years old and could not qualify for the visa but was overlooked as my sister was coming in the Kindertransport. I got myself a visa as a trainee. It was very difficult to get exit visas. My parents discussed whether to go to Sweden or Shanghai. Getting exit permits was terrible we had to go around a table full of Nazis. Each of them would place a stamp. We thought that by the end of the table we would get arrested. I was very frightened while on the train leaving Germany. In several stations were relatives of mine giving their farewells. I remember waving them good bye from the window. We did not suspect that the war was going to happen and would separate us for so many years. In one of the stations was my aunt. She tried to give me her gold medallion with the initials ML. It had belonged to her husband. I was so afraid of the Nazis finding out that I did not let her give it to me. I took one suitcase with me, it was very heavy and I could not move it without help. I was very frightened when the Nazis started to search my suitcase, they did it so carefully and it took such a long time that I thought I was going to miss the train. For that same reason, on the last station before reaching Holland, I took the Reichmarks I had with me, put them in an envelop with my parents address and the inscription: 'Please hand it to: . . . .', and threw the envelope through the window. Needless to say, they never got the money. I went to York to study child nursing and later graduated in more courses. I paid my dues to England! I married an Englishman at 23. My parents managed to escape to Shanghai and eventually immigrated to San Francisco. I did not join my parents in the USA. I did not see them that many times. My sister Inga who is three years younger joined them immediately after the war and stayed there.' EPH 3880: was previously on display: Fur das Kind Memorial, Liverpool Street Station

M.L.