It isn’t every day I sit at my kitchen table crying on a Sunday morning but The New York Times article about the exhibit, Stitching History From the Holocaust” did it. 
It all started when Kathie Bernstein, an archivist collecting letters and artifacts from Milwaukee’s Jewish community, received a donation from a lawyer named Burton Strnad. It included a letter, cleared by Nazi censors in Czechoslovakia, dated December 11, 1939 asking for help in emigrating to the United States and a packet of dress designs his wife Hedvika had sketched. The letter, written by Paul Strnad (Burton’s Uncle) asked for help in getting help escaping the Nazis. He hoped that his wife Hedvika’s design talent might cause some American to offer them asylum. The designs included two suits, two coats, an evening gown and several daytime dresses.
Once Ms. Bernstein dug into the story further she learned the Strnads never escaped to freedom. Hedvika Strnad and her husband were murdered at Theresienstadt Concentration Camp.
Years passed and Ms. Bernstein’s collection of artifacts became the core of the Jewish Museum Milwaukee. Over 15 years, Ms. Bernstein arranged to have Hedvika’s designs lovingly sewn, resulting in this powerful exhibit.
It’s a beautiful story and I may just have to get myself out to Milwaukee to see the exhibit firsthand. Bravo to Ms. Bernstein for creating such a lovely tribute to Hedvika’s memory
To read article go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/27/us/eight-mannequins-at-a-wisconsin-museum-tell-of-a-holocaust-tragedy.html
