March
Artifact of the Month for March 2018
Snuff box in silver
Snuff box in silver
Gerd Kirschner (born 1920)
Gerd Kirschner is born in Sandefjord as the only child of Marcus Leopold Schwartzmann and Signe (born Dolowitz). The family moved to Eslöv, Sweden in the mid 1920's. In 1939 Gerd was a student of dentist surgery in Stockholm. Here she met her future husband, Josef Mauritz Kirschner (born 1907 in Skuodas, Lithuania). Joseph, who was a Norwegian doctor had fled to Sweden in October 1942 and worked at Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm. Later during the war he served as a doctor for the allies forces in England. Gerd and Josef married in 1947 and the couple settled in Oslo. Gerd worked for many years as a social worker for the Norwegian Gerontological Institute in Oslo. From 1957 to 1961, Gerd was chairman of the Mosaic Women's Association and WIZO. She became a widow in 1991 and lives today at the Jewish Senior centre in Oslo.
The snuff box in silver is a gift to the Oslo Jewish Museum from Gerd Kirschner. It belonged to her grandfather, Abraham Schwartzmann (born 1852 in Neustadt, d. 1937 in Oslo), and is one of many beautiful objects Gerd has given the museum over the years.
Photo: The snuff box in silver is a gift to the Oslo Jewish Museum from Gerd Kirschner. It belonged to her grandfather, Abraham Schwartzmann (born 1852 in Neustadt, d. 1937 in Oslo), and is one of many beautiful objects Gerd has given the museum over the years.
Photo: Gerd Kirschner in Stockholm 1947