Media Essay
Collections Highlight: Selma Schwarzwald and her Bear, "Refugee" - Photograph
Daniel and Laura Schwarzwald
Sophie's parents, Daniel and Laura Schwarzwald, pictured on a beach in Zaleszczyki, Poland, shortly after they were married. Poland, 1935.
Item View"Refugee" the bear and a photo of a Darfurian child refugee
A replica of "Refugee" bear and a photo of a Darfurian child refugee, items taken by Commander Mark Polansky (pictured) on a December 2006 Space Shuttle mission.
Item ViewRefugee the bear
At some point after the war, Sophie received this small stuffed bear (about three inches high) as a present from her mother. She named it “Refugee,” just like she and her mother were refugees of the war.
Item ViewLaura Schwarzwald and relatives in Poland
Laura Schwarzwald, her daughter Selma, and Laura's sister, Adela Litwak, in Busko-Zdroj. Poland, 1947.
Item ViewSelma Schwarzwald in hiding as a Polish Catholic
Selma Schwarzwald poses outside while wearing her first communion dress. Selma lived in hiding as a Polish Catholic during the war. Busko-Zdroj, Poland, 1945.
Item ViewSelma Schwarzwald and her mother, Laura, in Busko-Zdroj on the occasion of Selma's first communion in 1945.
Selma Schwarzwald and her mother, Laura, in Busko-Zdroj on the occasion of Selma's first communion in 1945. Selma and Laura lived under false identities. Sophie had gradually forgotten that she was Jewish and did not learn of her Jewish identity until after the war. Busko-Zdroj, Poland, 1945.
Item ViewSelma Schwarzwald while hiding under a false identity in Busko-Zdroj.
Selma Schwarzwald while hiding under a false identity in Busko-Zdroj. Poland, 1943.
Item ViewDocumentation for a false identity
Document issued by the Regional Agricultural Mercantile Cooperative in Busko-Zdroj certifying that Bronislawa Tymejko (the false identity of Sophie Schwarzwald's mother, Laura Schwarzwald) was employed by the cooperative, dated November 1942.
Item ViewSelma Schwarzwald with her mother
Selma Schwarzwald with her mother, Laura, in Lvov, Poland, September 1938.
Item ViewSophie Turner-Zaretsky, Mark Polansky, and Bill Parsons with "Refugee" the bear
Dr. Sophie Turner-Zaretsky, Space Shuttle Discovery Commander Mark Polansky, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum chief of staff Bill Parsons. They are holding a replica of "Refugee" bear and a photo of a Darfurian child refugee, items taken by Commander Polansky on a December 2006 Space Shuttle mission.
Item View