Before the Hirsch family of Tîrgu Mures, Transylvania, was deported to Auschwitz, Mrs Hirsch cut off the braids of her 12-year-old daughter, Lili, put them in a velvet tallit (prayer shawl) bag, and gave them to a neighbor for safe-keeping. After the war only Mr Hirsch and his son Itzchak returned; Lili and her mother had perished.

The braids (as seen below) that were in the tallit bag are the sole remaining mementos of the prewar period.