Torah

Miniature Torah preserved by Johanna Baruch Boas while living in hiding in Brussels, Belgium. The Torah belonged to her husband, Bernhard, and was possibly used while traveling. Bernhard died in Berlin in 1932. Johanna carried it with her when she fled Nazi Germany for Brussels in March 1939, with her daughter’s family. The Germans occupied Belgium in May 1940 and enacted punitive anti-Jewish legislation. Soon they were deporting Jews to concentration camps. Johanna buried the yarmulke and other religious items to keep them safe during the occupation. Johanna survived with the help of her non-Jewish landlady who hid her in her attic. In December 1944, she was reunited with her 11 year old niece, Beatrice Westheimer, who had fled Germany with her. She had lived in hiding in a small village, but her parents and an uncle had been deported and killed at Auschwitz. Johanna and Beatrice immigrated to the United States in 1946. No restrictions on access