FEBRUAR 2017
Artifact of the month for February 2017
Handwritten Notebok - Martin Sachnowitz
Handwritten Notebok - Martin Sachnowitz
Martin Sachnowitz was born on the 10th of October 1910 in the city of Larvik, Norway. He was the eldest of eight children to Sara (b. Lahn 1885 i Riga, Latvia, d. 1939 in Larvik) and Israel Leib Sachnowitz (b. 1880 in Krasnopol, Russia). He had elementary school, middle school and trade school and worked as a salesman in the family's clothing store in Larvik. Martin was also an excellent musician and bandleader. In 1939 he led the jazz orchestra Harmony Kings, which included his brother Herman on trumpet and his sister Marie on vocals. He was also an eminent bridge player. In 1941 the Larvik bridge club won the Norway Championships, with Martin on the team.
On the 26th of October 1942 Martin was arrested on Gjein in Stokke, a farm his father Israel Leib had bought two years before. Along with his father and four brothers, Martin was detained at Berg prison camp outside of Tønsberg. A month later he was deported with the ship Donau to Stettin and from there to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Here Martin Sachnowitz perished on the 14th of March 1943. Martin’s father and seven siblings were also deported to Auschwitz. One brother, Herman Sachnowitz survived. He later wrote down his account in the book "It also concerns you." Herman died in 1978.
Photo 1: Martin Sachnowitz, ca. 1930. (Courtesy of Rita Porat & Marion Gamain )
Photo 2: Members of Sachnowitz family with friends and relatives, ca. 1940. From left: Idar Paltiel (b.1919, d. 1943 in Auschwitz), Samuel Sachnowitz (b.1912, d. 1943 in Auschwitz), Rita Sachnowitz (b.1915, d. 1943 in Auschwitz), unknown, Israel Leib Sachnowitz (b.1880, d. 1942 in Auschwitz), Oscar Lahn (b.1923, d. 1943 in Auschwitz), Elias Sachnowitz (b.1911, d. 1943 in Auschwitz), Martin Sachnowitz (b. 1910 d. 1943 in Auschwitz) Bertha Plavnik Dante (b. 1895), Marie Sachnowitz (b.1919, d. 1942 in Auschwitz), Frida Sachnowitz (b.1923, d. 1943 in Auschwitz), Herman Sachnowitz (b. 1921), unknown, Samuel Dante (f .1918).
The Note book in harmony is handwritten by Martin Sachnowitz. It probably dates from the 1930s. The Note book is a gift to the museum from Rita Porat and Marion Gamain, Herman Sachnowitz 'daughters.
The Note book in harmony is handwritten by Martin Sachnowitz. It probably dates from the 1930s. The Note book is a gift to the museum from Rita Porat and Marion Gamain, Herman Sachnowitz 'daughters.
The Note book in harmony is handwritten by Martin Sachnowitz. It probably dates from the 1930s. The Note book is a gift to the museum from Rita Porat and Marion Gamain, Herman Sachnowitz 'daughters.