Object numberM2013/054
DescriptionBlouse handmade with lattice work pockets and painted with floral designs by Isabella Perlhefter for her 14 year old daughter Ruth in c1936. Isabella painted as a hobby. She experimented with paint infused with tiny glass balls that shone iridescently in the light, using this type of paint on the collars and pockets of garments that she made. Greaseproof paper rolled into a funnel with the end snipped off allowed the paint to flow.
"The blouse represents my mother's childhood memories. Memories of her mother actually making this for her. My mother cherished it because it was all that was left of her childhood, of her home, of her parents.” The donor, Judy Sabag (nee Widder) is daughter to Ruth Widder (nee Perlhefter) and granddaughter of Isabella. Judy recalls that she would sometimes walk into her parents bedroom and find her mother sitting on the bed, crying and clutching the blouse.
Ruth Widder nee Perlhefter was born in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1922. She was 11 when Hitler came to power, and 16 she and her parents moved to Czechoslovakia, where she studied nursing. She was deported to Theresienstadt where she met Charles (Raffi) Widder from Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia. In 1943 the couple got married in the ghetto. In May 1944 they were deported to Auschwitz; both were tattooed. They were deported to numerous other concentration camps and didn’t meet up again until after the war. Reunited in Czechoslovakia, they had to get married again in Prague because there was no paper work to show that they had been married in Theresienstadt. In 1947 they had a daughter, Judith (Judy), and in 1949 they immigrated to Australia.
Ruth’s parents Isabella and Adolf Perlhefter were deported to Auschwitz in mid-1943 and murdered.
"My mother was extremely fortunate to have many items and photographs returned to her after the war. A neighbour was entrusted with these and kept them safe and returned them to my mother when she returned from the horrors of the concentration camps." Judy Sabag
"The blouse represents my mother's childhood memories. Memories of her mother actually making this for her. My mother cherished it because it was all that was left of her childhood, of her home, of her parents.” The donor, Judy Sabag (nee Widder) is daughter to Ruth Widder (nee Perlhefter) and granddaughter of Isabella. Judy recalls that she would sometimes walk into her parents bedroom and find her mother sitting on the bed, crying and clutching the blouse.
Ruth Widder nee Perlhefter was born in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1922. She was 11 when Hitler came to power, and 16 she and her parents moved to Czechoslovakia, where she studied nursing. She was deported to Theresienstadt where she met Charles (Raffi) Widder from Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia. In 1943 the couple got married in the ghetto. In May 1944 they were deported to Auschwitz; both were tattooed. They were deported to numerous other concentration camps and didn’t meet up again until after the war. Reunited in Czechoslovakia, they had to get married again in Prague because there was no paper work to show that they had been married in Theresienstadt. In 1947 they had a daughter, Judith (Judy), and in 1949 they immigrated to Australia.
Ruth’s parents Isabella and Adolf Perlhefter were deported to Auschwitz in mid-1943 and murdered.
"My mother was extremely fortunate to have many items and photographs returned to her after the war. A neighbour was entrusted with these and kept them safe and returned them to my mother when she returned from the horrors of the concentration camps." Judy Sabag
Production date 1936 - 1936
SubjectPre-war life, presents, world that was, clothing
Object nameshirts
Materialsilk
Dimensions
- length: 600.00 mm
width: 400.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Judy Sabag