This story is the first in a new series called “The Hidden Museum,” which explores remarkable artifacts from St. Louis museums, pieces of history rarely seen by the public. The St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum holds more than 660 artifacts in its collection, though only about 125 appear in the permanent exhibit. The rest remain in carefully preserved storage, waiting to share their stories.
A trunk filled with hope
Before Israel and Fania (Katz) Berwald began their lives in St. Louis, their story was packed carefully inside a burlap-covered wicker trunk.
Israel and Fania were from small towns in Poland. He was a medical student who studied in France, Switzerland and Italy. She trained as a midwife. They married on Nov. 19, 1933, and the trunk held her trousseau, the linens, keepsakes and small tokens of a new life she was building.
By the mid-1930s, danger and uncertainty had begun to grow in Europe. Israel’s uncle, Paul Berwald, who worked for Senak Shoe Company in St. Louis, wrote letters to the U.S. Consul pleading for his nephew and niece to be allowed to immigrate. He promised to support them financially and help them build a new start. His words carried enough weight to open a path that would save their lives.
Crossing an ocean
In March 1938, the young couple boarded the SS Washington bound for America. They carried with them their clothing, a few personal items and Fania’s trousseau trunk, a single vessel of their past and future.
They settled with Paul in the Senate Apartments on Union Boulevard. Israel worked first at Lutheran and Christian hospitals before opening his own practice. Fania learned English and became a secretary at Senak Shoes. Two years later, their son David was born.
From attic to archive
This section is part of hidden museum stories in St. Louis through the Berwald trunk.
The trunk and a collection of family photographs were donated to the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum in 2022 by Dr. David Berwald, the couple’s son. It arrived empty but in remarkably good condition, still bearing both addresses from its 1938 voyage, one from Dr. Israel Berwald in Łomża, Poland and one to Paul Berwald in St. Louis.
In early 2025, a conservator cleaned and repaired the piece, replacing a missing handle and broken latch while preserving its patina. Since then, the trunk has been displayed in special programs such as Inside the Vault and during the traveling exhibition Stitching History from the Holocaust, which highlighted Jewish businesses in St. Louis’ garment district.
“This artifact creates questions about the immigration experience during the years of the Holocaust,” said Amy Moorman, the museum’s director of archives and collections. “Questions like ‘How would I have reacted to these circumstances?’ and ‘What would I have packed, and what would I have left behind?’ are immediate questions that come to mind.”
What they left behind
The rest of the Berwald and Katz families remained in Poland. After the Nazi invasion, they fled to Slonim [a town in Belarus] where nearly 28,000 Jews were murdered between July 1941 and March 1942. No letters ever arrived in St. Louis after June 1941.
To Moorman, the Berwald trunk is more than just an object. “Luggage is a recognizable piece of history that people still use today,” she said. “While this artifact evokes a memory of the past, it also reminds us of the timeless nature of human experiences.”
Preserving memory in St. Louis
Jewish Americans and Jewish immigrants played a significant role in making St. Louis a national garment industry hub where family networks like the Berwalds helped newcomers find stability and community. By 1924, more than 160 garment companies operated around Washington Avenue, employing thousands of Jewish immigrants who had come in search of safety and opportunity.
Today, the Berwald trunk sits quietly in the museum’s collection, linking one family’s journey to the larger story of Jewish St. Louis, a reminder that even in storage, history never stops speaking.
How to donate artifacts
Families who wish to donate artifacts to the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum can begin the process by visiting the museum’s Collection page online. Here you will find a donation request form. The team will gather background information about the item and conduct any needed research before presenting it to the Collections Committee for approval. If accepted, donors sign a Deed of Gift that transfers ownership and the item is cataloged and preserved in the museum’s storage facility.
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