Chess Sets, a Brief Respite from a Harsh Reality

Preserved in the Artifacts Collection of Yad Vashem's Museum are approximately twenty chess sets that were used by Jews during the Holocaust. Some were crafted during the war, others were made before the war and taken with Jews who were deported from their homes. Playing chess helped to alleviate the suffering of Jews and allowed them a few brief moments of relief from the hunger, the cold and the fear, temporarily easing their loneliness and sense of isolation.

Chess set that Chaya Stecolchic received from Leone Goldstein on their liberation from the Mogilev ghetto, Transnistria

A chess game played by a young girl and boy in the Mogilev ghetto in Transnistria

Thirteen-year-old Chaya Stecolchic from Czernowitz became friends with the youth Leone Goldstein in the Mogilev ghetto. Leone, who had a chess set, taught her to play the game, and when they were released from the ghetto he gave the...

Chess set carved by Julius Druckman in Obdovka Ghetto, Transnistria, 1943

A Chess Set from Transnistria – From Parting Gift to Reunion

"Hunger was a powerful teacher" testifies Julius Druckman, who was deported at age 11 with his mother from Czernowitz to the region of Transnistria. Mother and son wandered from place to place until they reached the town...

Chess set that belonged to Lupu Credinciosu, who was murdered on the "Death Train" from Jassy in 1941

Chess set that belonged to Lupu (Ze'ev) Credinciosu who died on the "Death Train" that left Iasi in June 1941

The chess games served as a cover for the meetings of the underground group in Iasi that Lupu (Ze'ev) Credinciosu was a member of. While playing, they discussed political questions related to their anti-fascist beliefs."They...

Chessboard from the notebook that Jakob Jaget used as a sketchbook while in hiding.

Chessboard drawn by the child Kuba (Jack) Jaget while he was in hiding with his family

For twenty-two months the Jaget family from the village of Bobrka hid in a dark cramped space under the pigpen of a Ukrainian family.

Chess pieces that were made in the Friedland labor camp, Poland

Chess pieces and box that Dr. Ernst Furst received in the Friedland labor camp in Poland

Dr. Ernest Furst, an ear, nose and throat specialist from Topolcany in Slovakia, was deported to Auschwitz with his family in 1944. His wife and children were murdered. Dr. Furst was sent to the Friedland labor camp, a sub-camp of...

Chess pieces that the Freiburg family took from home when they went into hiding.

Six chess pieces from the game that the Freiburg family took into hiding

After the German Nazis murdered the inhabitants of Monasterzyska and it was declared Judenrein (free of Jews),the few Jews who remained, among them Shoshana and Aryeh Freiburg and their eleven-year-old daughter Shulamit, were sent...

Chess board used by the youth Issachar Parkiet and his family in their hideout

In the summer of 1942, Joseph Parkiet was warned by an acquaintance that the next day a massive roundup of Jews was scheduled to take place throughout Paris, and advising him to go into hiding. He quickly hid with his wife and children...

Chess pieces that Zigmund Stern carved while in hiding in Slovakia, 1944

Chess pieces that Zigmund Stern carved for his son in the family's hideout

In the fall of 1944, Zigmund and Rosina Stern fled from Bratislava with their nine-year-old son Alfred, and began to wander through remote villages in Slovakia looking for hiding places. They sent their twelve-year-old son, Richard,...

Chess pieces made by Yisrael & Yitzhak Roth and Aryeh Klein in the detainment camp in Cyprus

A Workshop for making chess pieces in a Detainment Camp in Cyprus

After the war, brothers Yisrael and Yitzhak Roth and their cousin Aryeh Klein, Hungarian survivors, decided to make their way illegally to Eretz Israel (Mandatory Palestine) together with members of their Hachshara (pioneer training)...

Chess set that teenager Aaron Rennert took with him when his family was deported to Transnistria

Chess set – the only remaining item from the Rennert family home

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Chess pieces that Malka Giske found after the war next to her former home in the Lodz ghetto

Chess pieces found scattered on the sidewalk next to the Giske family home in Lodz

"I donated the chess board in memory of the children who I always see in my mind"After surviving close to four years in the Lodz ghetto, Shmuel Giske and his three daughters, Rachel, 27, Malka, 24 and Liliana, 16, were deported...

Chess pieces carved by Elhanan Ejbuszyc in Auschwitz-Birkenau

Chess pieces carved by Elhanan Ejbuszyc in Auschwitz from his block leader's club

Elhanan Ejbuszyc, a talented carver of miniatures, was deported from the Lodz ghetto to Auschwitz-Birkenau in the summer of 1944, where he was imprisoned in Block 20. The block leader was known for his cruelty, particularly for using...

Chess set made from paper by Hermann Rautenberg in the Buchenwald camp where he was imprisoned until his execution.

Chess set made from paper in the Buchenwald camp by political prisoner Hermann Rautenberg, a Jew from Berlin

On an old fishing boat, posing as a group of innocent boating enthusiasts, Herman Rautenberg from Berlin met with other youths involved in anti-Nazi activities. In spite of being arrested a number of times, Rautenberg was undeterred....

Chess Sets, a Brief Respite from a Harsh Reality

A chess game played by a young girl and boy in the Mogilev ghetto in Transnistria

A Chess Set from Transnistria – From Parting Gift to Reunion

Chess set that belonged to Lupu (Ze'ev) Credinciosu who died on the "Death Train" that left Iasi in June 1941

Chessboard drawn by the child Kuba (Jack) Jaget while he was in hiding with his family

Chess pieces and box that Dr. Ernst Furst received in the Friedland labor camp in Poland

Six chess pieces from the game that the Freiburg family took into hiding

Chess board used by the youth Issachar Parkiet and his family in their hideout

Chess pieces that Zigmund Stern carved for his son in the family's hideout

A Workshop for making chess pieces in a Detainment Camp in Cyprus

Chess set – the only remaining item from the Rennert family home

Chess pieces found scattered on the sidewalk next to the Giske family home in Lodz

Chess pieces carved by Elhanan Ejbuszyc in Auschwitz from his block leader's club

Chess set made from paper in the Buchenwald camp by political prisoner Hermann Rautenberg, a Jew from Berlin

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