REL/13167
Heraldry REL/13167 Period 1950-1959Two small pieces of scrap metal (1 flat and one curved) and a signet ring made from a bolt. These pieces of scrap metal, accompanied by an incomplete handmade signet ring, were used by Antonio Horci
REL/13168 Accession Number: REL/13168
Description
Handmade penknife, 9.2cm long, with engraved silver case 'Vupsmoninku Na Dachau (unknown symbol) 20523 (T inside triangle)'.
Contextual Description
Handmade pocket knife made by Antonio Horcicka, a political internee in Dachau concentration camp. Horcicka used the scrap metal he collected to make jewellery and other items, which he exchanged for food and other goods.
Antonio Horcicka was born in Prague in 1914. As he came of age in the 1930s, he joined the Czechoslovak Army and witnessed the unopposed annexation of his country by German forces in 1938. He fled Czechoslovakia in 1940 with his pregnant wife, hoping to escape to the United States. The couple travelled through Austria to Yugoslavia, where they were befriended by a local official. When the couple divulged their plan to escape Europe, the official revealed himself to be a Gestapo agent. Antonio's wife returned to Prague, while Antonio was prosecuted, found guilty of voicing opposition to Hitler's regime and imprisoned at Dachau. He migrated to Australia in 1950.
Details
Accession Number
REL/13168
Classification
Heraldry
Object Type
Personal Equipment
Physical Description
Material: Brass
Material: Ferrous metal
Material: Silver
Material: Ferrous metal
Material: Silver
Measurement
Overall: 8 mm x 15 mm x 92 mm
Date Made
c 1945
Place Made
Gallery location
Main Bld: World War 2 Gallery, Holocaust gallery
Whole/Part
Whole
Item Count
1
Copyright
Copyright not applicable
Conflicts
Places
Tags
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