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Sun-Thurs: 08:30-17:00
Fridays and holiday eves: 08:30-14:00
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Yad Vashem is open to the general public, free of charge. All visits to Yad Vashem must be reserved in advance.

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  3. Featured Artifacts
  4. Boots that Mira Kwasowicer wore when she jumped from the deportation train to the Treblinka extermination camp

Boots that Mira Kwasowicer wore when she jumped from the deportation train to the Treblinka extermination camp

Mira Kossowitzer was born in Bialystok, Poland on the 2nd of September, 1922 to Micha-Motel and Elka Kossowitzer, a sister to Ida and Abraham. Her parents were fur merchants whose business was nationalized by the Soviet authorities in 1939. When the Germans occupied Bialystok, Mira decided to escape the city with some friends. Finding the roads blocked, they were forced to turn back. On her return, Mira discovered that her brother Abraham had been murdered by the Nazis.

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Boots that Mira Becker nee Kossowitzer received from her father in 1939.
Boots that Mira Becker nee Kossowitzer received from her father in 1939.

She was wearing the boots when she jumped from the deportation train from Ghetto Bialystok to Treblinka. Mira kept the boots as a memorial to her beloved parents and family members who perished in the Holocaust.

Yad Vashem Artifacts Collection
Gift of Mira Becker, Los Angeles, USA

Boots that Mira Becker nee Kossowitzer received from her father in 1939.
Mira Becker in her home when donating the boots to a representative of Yad Vashem
Mira Becker in her home when donating the boots to a representative of Yad Vashem

Mira Becker in her home when donating the boots to a representative of Yad Vashem
Maria Kazuczyk, who rescued Mira Becker nee Kossowitzer
Maria Kazuczyk, who rescued Mira Becker nee Kossowitzer

Maria Kazuczyk, who rescued Mira Becker nee Kossowitzer
Maria Kazuczyk, in the center, with her two friends who visited Mira every two weeks
Maria Kazuczyk, in the center, with her two friends who visited Mira every two weeks

Maria Kazuczyk, in the center, with her two friends who visited Mira every two weeks
Mira’s mother, Elka with her brother Leibl-Louis
Mira’s mother, Elka with her brother Leibl-Louis

Mira’s mother, Elka with her brother Leibl-Louis
On donating the boots to the artifacts collection of Yad Vashem, Mira attached a note: “These are the boots out of the train and are the only memento I own from my parents’ house and my youth.”
On donating the boots to the artifacts collection of Yad Vashem, Mira attached a note: “These are the boots out of the train and are the only memento I own from my parents’ house and my youth.”

On donating the boots to the artifacts collection of Yad Vashem, Mira attached a note: “These are the boots out of the train and are the only memento I own from my parents’ house and my youth.”
Boots that Mira Becker nee Kossowitzer received from her father in 1939.
Boots that Mira Becker nee Kossowitzer received from her father in 1939.
Mira Becker in her home when donating the boots to a representative of Yad Vashem
Mira Becker in her home when donating the boots to a representative of Yad Vashem
Maria Kazuczyk, who rescued Mira Becker nee Kossowitzer
Maria Kazuczyk, who rescued Mira Becker nee Kossowitzer
Maria Kazuczyk, in the center, with her two friends who visited Mira every two weeks
Maria Kazuczyk, in the center, with her two friends who visited Mira every two weeks
Mira’s mother, Elka with her brother Leibl-Louis
Mira’s mother, Elka with her brother Leibl-Louis
On donating the boots to the artifacts collection of Yad Vashem, Mira attached a note: “These are the boots out of the train and are the only memento I own from my parents’ house and my youth.”
On donating the boots to the artifacts collection of Yad Vashem, Mira attached a note: “These are the boots out of the train and are the only memento I own from my parents’ house and my youth.”
06. Resistance and RescueClothes