FEBRUARY 2019
Artifact of the month of February 2019
Order of King David
Order of King David
Regi Milner (1887 – 1960)
Regi (Regina) Milner was born in Östersund, Sweden to Levin Aronson Kahn and wife Lina (b. Abrahamson). She came to Norway in 1911. Here she met and married Moses Leopold Milner (b. 1881 i Karlstad, Sweden). Leopold was a wholesaler in watches and had in his business registered his wife’s name REGI as a trademark. Throughout her life Regi Milner was very active in the Jewish community. She was affiliated with “Mosaisk Kvinneforening” (the Jewish women’s association) from its’ founding in 1913. Between 1950 and 1957 she was also the chairperson of the association.
In November 1942 Regi fled to Sweden with her husband, two daughters and grandchildren. A son-in-law, Herman Mesner (b. 1911) was deported in November 1942 and murdered in Auschwitz in January 1943.
The order of King David was instituted in 1924 by the Jewish Youth Association (JUF) which was founded in 1909. According to the statutes the order should be awarded to those who had particularly excelled through working for the association. At the Associations 75th anniversary in 1984 a total of 172 persons had received the order. The order was closed down in 2006. Its first officials were Sigurd Levin, Harry Koritzinsky og Alfred Oster.
The Order of King David is a gift to the museum from Fredrik Styr, Regi’s grandson.
Photo: From the Jewish Women’s Associations Purim celebration in 1925. Regi Milner to the far left in front.
Photo: Regi Milner, ca. 1950
Photo: From the Mosaic Women's Association Purimfeiring in 1925. Regi Milner sits to the left in the 1st row.