Family heirloom passed down from Holocaust survivor stolen
DALLAS - A Dallas woman's heirloom that was inherited from her mother, a Holocaust survivor, was stolen from her home.
It was a ring her mother hid for years while in a German concentration camp. The survival of the disturbing history behind the ring is as inspiring as the woman who wore it, and that's why for Malka Amster, it is priceless.
"It survived a lot, but it did not survive a petty theft,” she said.
Amster says a burglar stole her late mother's gold signet ring. Pratiksha Jewelry in Dallas offered a sketch to help show what the ring looks like.
For Amster, the gold ring reminds her of her mother's courage, strength and survival spirit. As a little girl, her mother went into a Jewish orphanage in Poland. And by 15, she was at a German concentration camp.
"She was in a lineup one day and she stumbled,” Amster said. “And the officer held a gun to her head and she said ‘Please pull the trigger! Please pull the trigger!’ And he didn't."
For five years, her mother endured the unthinkable and was somehow able to keep the ring hidden.
"To have this be the very last sort of physical remnant and for someone to have stolen that,” Amster said.
It is times like this that Amster wishes she could wear her mother's ring.
"Times that I felt I needed a little more ‘that a girl!’ ‘Go on!’ You know, that type of thing," she said.
The ring represents more than just the survival of the darkest times in her mother's life. It reminds her of mother's remarkable resilience.
"There's a part of the human spirit that transcends some atrocities,” Amster said. “And that makes for very special people."
The loss of the precious ring reminds her of what her mother would often say in difficult times.
"She had a mantra, and she just said ‘let it go,’” Amster explained. “I just don't know how she did that."
Amster is hoping someone will see her story and let the ring go back to her. She is offering a "no questions asked" $1,000 reward for anyone that can get the ring back to her.