Object numberM1991/026
DescriptionConcentration camp blanket, bound with blanket stitch. Belonged to Susan Karas (nee Zuzana Kardos), born in 1920 in Czechoslovakia. In 1944 she was caught and sent to Auschwitz, then selected as a slave labourer to work in Lorenzwerke factory at Hohenelbe in the Sudetenland. Here, she was issued with the blanket.
In a testimony done for the SJM, she talks about being issued with the blanket. She describes how later she received scissors and a needle to sew a bra for one of the guards and with this, began removing the stitching from around the outside of the blanket to alter inmates clothing to fit better. She talks about how she slept with the blanket (used like a mattress protector) for over 30 years - a tangible reminder of what she had gone through. After encouragement from her daughter, she finally donated it to the SJM in 1991.
In a testimony done for the SJM, she talks about being issued with the blanket. She describes how later she received scissors and a needle to sew a bra for one of the guards and with this, began removing the stitching from around the outside of the blanket to alter inmates clothing to fit better. She talks about how she slept with the blanket (used like a mattress protector) for over 30 years - a tangible reminder of what she had gone through. After encouragement from her daughter, she finally donated it to the SJM in 1991.
Production date 1944 - 1945
Object nameblankets
Materialwool
Dimensions
- whole width: 1430.00 mm
height: 1760.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs Susan Karas