Suitcase with a secret compartment

2015

  • ca. mid-20th century
  • acquired by the Jewish Museum in 2014 as a gift from the original owner
  • part of the Jewish Museum's Judaica sub-collection

Inventory number: JMP 180.126. Stiffened cardboard, canvas, leather. Length 660 mm, width 420 mm, height 190 mm.

One of the most recent acquisitions made by the Jewish Museum in Prague is a suitcase that tellingly documents the fate that befell members of the Jewish community in 1950s Czechoslovakia.  
 
This suitcase belonged to Evžen Lieberman (1922–2014), who was born in the village of Sjurte in what was Carpathian Ruthenia (then part of Czechoslovakia, now part of Ukraine). After liberation he opted for Czechoslovak citizenship but was later arrested and imprisoned for attempting to cross the border illegally. He managed to flee to Czechoslovakia two years later, where he joined the underground activities of the Jewish community – organizing the smuggling of Jewish refugees into Israel and illicitly funding Jewish institutions. This area of his work is documented by the above-mentioned suitcase, which has a false bottom for hiding valuables. Evžen Lieberman was later given a seven-year prison sentence after his involvement was revealed. In 1965, after being released, he was allowed to travel to Israel, where he took this suitcase with him.
 
Even on closer inspection, the suitcase looks like an ordinary travelling case. Only by sheer chance could the uninitiated find its concealed contents. To get to the secret  compartment at the back of the case, it is first necessary to unscrew the false bolt-head in one of the corners. When part of the reinforced leather corner is lifted up, it is then possible to remove the pin connecting the two false rivets, so that the rest of the corner can be raised and the secret compartment can then be pulled out – a flat cardboard case that extends across the entire length of the back. The inconspicuous ingenuity of this design is demonstrated by the fact the secret compartment was not even discovered when the suitcase passed through the hands of the State Security (Czechoslovak secret police) after the owner had been arrested.
 
In the last year the Jewish Museum has devoted great attention to presenting the results of its acquisitions activity since regaining independence in 1994. In addition to organizing the exhibition The Story Continues: Acquisitions in the Collections of the Jewish Museum in Prague, 1994–2014, the museum held a seminar for specialists on theoretical and practical issues concerning the acquisition work of museums. With financial support from the Czech Association of Museums and Galleries and the Czech Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the proceedings of this seminar – titled Acquisition and De-acquisition Activities of Museums and Galleries – have just been published. 

The acquisition of the suitcase was made possible thanks to Adam Hradilek of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.

Inventory number: JMP 180.126. Stiffened cardboard, canvas, leather. Length 660 mm, width 420 mm, height 190 mm.

Inventory number: JMP 180.126. Stiffened cardboard, canvas, leather. Length 660 mm, width 420 mm, height 190 mm.