Rescued Objects and the Stories They Reveal

Goldblum family artifacts in the Museum collection. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of Sally Wasserman

A final love letter, written by a wife to her husband, pleads with him to take care of their son, her “golden boy.” A young boy’s teddy bear secretly held jewelry inside, which helped the refugee family restart their lives in America. Every artifact in our collection tells its own rich story. Together, they offer a glimpse into the millions of lives shattered by the Nazi regime.

On Ask A Curator Day, Judith Cohen, chief acquisitions curator at the Museum, joined Dr. Edna Friedberg, a Museum historian, to discuss how seemingly ordinary objects can reveal powerful stories of tragedy, survival, and hope.