Object numberM2023/004:001
DescriptionPink satin hand-painted tie by Charles (Rafi) Widder and Ruth Widder nee Perlhefter, c. 1953-1954, Sydney. Rafi and Ruth, along with their daughter Judy, immigrated to Australia in 1949. They owned The Fiaker Viennese-style restaurant in Darlinghurst, and painted ties as a side business from home.
“I remember my parents painting the ties, both of them, at home. We didn’t have any furniture but we had a table that was always filled with ties and paint. There was nowhere for us to eat. The company they worked for was Esquire Ties (owned by Werner Samuel); they supplied the plain ties in colours and my parents painted them. They got their ideas for designs from magazines, really from anything; they were told to paint ‘pretty pictures’. I remember they used to cut little squares from grease-proof paper and fold them to make a funnel, then put the paint inside, cut the bottom and use that like a pen.” Donor Judy Sabag, October 2012.
Ruth learned this method of painting using a paper funnel from her mother Isabella Perlhefter, who hand-painted floral designs on the collars and pockets of garments that she made. Rafi was an artistic man and painted in his spare time. He couldn’t afford canvases so he painted on tea towels nailed to a board.
Ruth was born in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1922. When she was 16, her family attempted to flee Nazi Germany by moving first to Vienna, Austria and then to Prague Czechoslovakia. There she met Karel (Charles, known as Rafi) Widder, a chef and pastry cook born in 1921 in Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia.
They were deported to Theresienstadt in 1942. Ruth and Rafi were married in Theresienstadt ghetto on 29 January 1943 by Rabbi Unger of Brno. Somebody gave her a dress, and someone else gave her matching shoes. A piece of curtain was used as a veil. In September of that year, Ruth’s parents Isabella and Adolf Perlhefter were deported to Auschwitz and murdered.
In May 1944, Ruth and Rafi were deported to Auschwitz and numerous concentration camps following. They both survived and were reunited in Czechoslovakia after the war. They had to remarry in Prague since there was no official record to prove they had been married in Theresienstadt. In 1947 their daughter Judy was born, and two years later they began their new life in Australia.
“I remember my parents painting the ties, both of them, at home. We didn’t have any furniture but we had a table that was always filled with ties and paint. There was nowhere for us to eat. The company they worked for was Esquire Ties (owned by Werner Samuel); they supplied the plain ties in colours and my parents painted them. They got their ideas for designs from magazines, really from anything; they were told to paint ‘pretty pictures’. I remember they used to cut little squares from grease-proof paper and fold them to make a funnel, then put the paint inside, cut the bottom and use that like a pen.” Donor Judy Sabag, October 2012.
Ruth learned this method of painting using a paper funnel from her mother Isabella Perlhefter, who hand-painted floral designs on the collars and pockets of garments that she made. Rafi was an artistic man and painted in his spare time. He couldn’t afford canvases so he painted on tea towels nailed to a board.
Ruth was born in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1922. When she was 16, her family attempted to flee Nazi Germany by moving first to Vienna, Austria and then to Prague Czechoslovakia. There she met Karel (Charles, known as Rafi) Widder, a chef and pastry cook born in 1921 in Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia.
They were deported to Theresienstadt in 1942. Ruth and Rafi were married in Theresienstadt ghetto on 29 January 1943 by Rabbi Unger of Brno. Somebody gave her a dress, and someone else gave her matching shoes. A piece of curtain was used as a veil. In September of that year, Ruth’s parents Isabella and Adolf Perlhefter were deported to Auschwitz and murdered.
In May 1944, Ruth and Rafi were deported to Auschwitz and numerous concentration camps following. They both survived and were reunited in Czechoslovakia after the war. They had to remarry in Prague since there was no official record to prove they had been married in Theresienstadt. In 1947 their daughter Judy was born, and two years later they began their new life in Australia.
Production date 1953 - 1954
Object nameties
Materialfibres (fabrics)