Thís is the last photograph of my mother, Margita Steinerova, nee Abrahamova, taken on 17th July 1941. I think this is one of very few documents preserved. I saw only one similar to this. The Jews had special obligatory identity cards.
During the war the Jewish Center was on Kozia Street, in the house where Mrs. Alexandrova lives today. She looks terribly worried in this picture. My mother was very pretty, and they used to speak about her as the beauty of Bratislava. But in this picture her worries are already visible in her features. My mother died in Auschwitz in 1942.
She filled in the mandatory Jewish identity card with her own handwriting; she had a very nice handwriting, inherited from her mother. I would like to donate that photograph to an institution, because I think it has historical value. I tried to make a copy of it, but the copy wasn't good. The yellow color of the card must be seen because I think it's symbolical; the photopaper simply must be yellow.
Margita Steinerova
Centropa Collection acquired by USHMM
The Centropa archive has been acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.
USHMM will soon offer a Special Collections page for Centropa.
Academics please note: USHMM can provide you with original language word-for-word transcripts and high resolution photographs. All publications should be credited: "From the Centropa Collection at the United States Memorial Museum in Washington, DC". Please contact collection [at] centropa.org.