Clear glass bottle manufactured at the Jakob Haberfeld vodka and liquor factory. Decorated in relief with the family coat-of-arms and the inscription “Jakob Haberfeld, Oswiecim.” 6 x 3 inches.

GLASS BOTTLE FROM THE JAKOB HABERFELD LIQUOR FACTORY, Oswiecim (AUSCHWITZ), POLAND.

Owicim (Auschwitz)

The “Dampffabrik Feiner Liqueure Jakob Haberfeld” was established in Oswiecimin 1804 and operated under family management for four generations until the invasion of Poland in 1939 when the successful business was confiscated by the Germans. Members of the Haberfeld family were murdered although a few escaped to the United States. Oswiecim(in Yiddish, Oshpitzin), renamed by the Germans as “Auschwitz,” is indelibly associated with the nearby concentration camp to which it gave its name. As such, many are unaware that the town itself had a rich Jewish heritage going back a half-millenia, a life that was utterly obliterated once Oswiecimbecame Auschwitz.