Children of Japan

Children of Japan
Courtesy, R. John Wright

Hinges and Hearts

Hinges and Hearts
An Exhibit of our Metal Dolls

Tuxedo and Bangles

Tuxedo and Bangles

A History of Metal Dolls

A History of Metal Dolls
Now on Alibris.com and In Print! The First Book of its Kind

Alice, Commemorative Edition

Alice, Commemorative Edition
Courtesy, R. John Wright

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Emma, aka, La Contessa Bathory

Emma, aka, La Contessa Bathory
Her Grace wishes us all a Merry Christmas!

Annabelle

Annabelle

Emma Emmeline

Emma Emmeline
Our New Addition/fond of stuffed toys

Cloth Clown

Cloth Clown

Native American Art

Native American Art

the triplets

the triplets

c. 1969 Greek Plastic Mini Baby

c. 1969 Greek Plastic Mini Baby
Bought Athens on the street

Iron Maiden; Middle Ages

Iron Maiden; Middle Ages

Sand Baby Swirls!

Sand Baby Swirls!
By Glenda Rolle, courtesy, the Artist

Glenda's Logo

Glenda's Logo
Also, a link to her site

Sand Baby Castaway

Sand Baby Castaway
By Glenda Rolle, Courtesy the Artist

A French Friend

A French Friend

Mickey

Mickey
From our friends at The Fennimore Museum

2000+ year old Roman Rag Doll

2000+ year old Roman Rag Doll
British Museum, Child's Tomb

Ancient Egypt Paddle Doll

Ancient Egypt Paddle Doll
Among first "Toys?"

ushabti

ushabti
Egyptian Tomb Doll 18th Dynasty

Ann Parker Doll of Anne Boleyn

Ann Parker Doll of Anne Boleyn

Popular Posts

Tin Head Brother and Sister, a Recent Purchase

Tin Head Brother and Sister, a Recent Purchase
Courtesy, Antique Daughter

Judge Peep

Judge Peep

Hakata Doll Artist at Work

Hakata Doll Artist at Work
From the Museum Collection

Japanese Costume Barbies

Japanese Costume Barbies
Samurai Ken

Etienne

Etienne
A Little Girl

Happy Heart Day

Happy Heart Day

From "Dolls"

From "Dolls"
A Favorite Doll Book

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Jenny Wren

Jenny Wren
Ultimate Doll Restorer

Our Friends at The Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum

Our Friends at The Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum

Baby Boo 1960s

Baby Boo 1960s
Reclaimed and Restored as a childhood Sabrina the Witch with Meow Meow

Dr. E's on Display with sign

Dr. E's on Display with sign

Dolls Restored ad New to the Museum

Dolls Restored ad New to the Museum
L to R: K*R /celluloid head, all bisque Artist Googly, 14 in. vinyl inuit sixties, early celluloid Skookum type.

Two More Rescued Dolls

Two More Rescued Dolls
Late Sixties Vinyl: L to R: Probably Horseman, all vinyl, jointed. New wig. R: Effanbee, probably Muffy, mid sixties. New wig and new clothing on both. About 12 inches high.

Restored Italian Baby Doll

Restored Italian Baby Doll
One of Dr. E's Rescued Residents

Dolls on Display

Dolls on Display
L to R: Nutcrackers, Danish Troll, HItty and her book, Patent Washable, Mechanical Minstrel, Creche figure, M. Alexander Swiss. Center is a German mechanical bear on the piano. Background is a bisque German costume doll.

A Few Friends

A Few Friends
These dolls are Old German and Nutcrackers from Dr. E's Museum. They are on loan to another local museum for the holidays.

Vintage Collage

Vintage Collage
Public Domain Art

The Merry Wanderer

The Merry Wanderer
Courtesy R. John Wright, The Hummel Collection

The Fennimore Doll Museum

The Fennimore Doll Museum

Robert

Robert
A Haunted Doll with a Story

Halloween Dolls Displayed in a Local Library

Halloween Dolls Displayed in a Local Library

The Cody Jumeau

The Cody Jumeau
Long-faced or Jumeau Triste

German Princesses

German Princesses
GAHC 2005

A Little PowerRanger

A Little PowerRanger
Halloween 2004

The Island of the Dolls

The Island of the Dolls
Shrine to Dolls in Mexico

Based on the Nutshell Series of Death

Based on the Nutshell Series of Death
Doll House murder

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A lovely dress

A lovely dress

Raggedy Ann

Raggedy Ann
A few friends in cloth!

Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum, WI

Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum, WI
Pixar Animator's Collection

Little PM sisters

Little PM sisters
Recent eBay finds

Dressed Mexican Fleas

Dressed Mexican Fleas

Really old Dolls!

Really old Dolls!

Friday, May 13, 2016

Doll Castle News Features The Olympic Doll, that Survived the Holocaust, and Her Cousin Doll who Survived her Child




The Holocaust Doll
 The Olympic Doll that resides at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
 Two Schildkroet Dolls have Ties to The Holocaust and The Olympic Doll

Cousin to the Olympic Doll

Box from the cousin to the Olympic Doll



The history of a celluloid doll in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum is told this month in “Doll Castle News” May/June 2016, by author Stephanie Strunk Baker.  Artist Diana E. Vining has also done a paper doll tribute featuring the doll and her owner, Inge Auerbacher.  Auerbacher gave her doll to the museum in 1992.  The Schildkroet Doll Factory, who made the original doll, recently began creating limited editions of Inge’s doll, and has since given one to her as a remembrance.

Inge Auerbacher was born in southwest Germany, near the Black Forest, also known for dolls and woodcarving.  In August, 1942, Inge and her family were departed to Terezin, a NAZI concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.   Her doll, named Marlene for Marlene Dietrich [an actress who also had dolls], was a celluloid doll with blue eyes and molded blonde hair.

Somehow, Auerbacher held onto her doll throughout her family’s internment.  I have read accounts that puppet shows took place at Terezin, and that children could be born there.  It was not a death camp, but many, including a friend of Inge’s who had an identical doll to Auerbacher’s, were deported to Auschwitz and other death camps.

After the camp was liberated, and Inge traveled, she still kept Marlene.  She learned later that the brand name for this doll was “Inge”, a rare coincidence indeed. According to baker, Auerbacher’s grandmother may have bought the doll because it had the same name as her granddaughter.  The Inge doll was created as a type of mascot for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and is often called The Olympic Doll.  

That Olympics and The Olympic doll are important to my family, too.  My dad was a world class runner in Greece, and his coach ran in the famous race wear Jesse Owens beat a top NAZI athlete.  My parents and their families spent the war in occupied Greece.  They survived the Fascists, the NAZI’s, and later, the Communists during The Greek Civil War. 

My mother was an American; she and her family went on a vacation to Greece in 1938 that lasted eight years.  Her relatives in Illinois thought all of them were dead.  They nearly starved, and she nearly escaped being shot herself.  She witnessed the round-ups of innocent people being taken away to be shot, and she heard stories of what was happening in the concentration camps in Poland, Czechoslovakia and elsewhere.

My mother kept her favorite doll, a composition Shirley look alike, with her till she left for the US.  Then, she gave it to her cousin.  We found a doll like her, but if Cousin ReRe reads this post, we’d like the doll back if you have her.

As a result, my mom had very little of her possessions when she came home.  She had two, very early 7 inch dolls that she dressed in Greek costumes.  My mother used to dance and knew many of the traditional dances of Greece and Mexico.  Those two dolls are all I really have of her own childhood dolls.

The story of the Schildkroet doll does not end with Inge, however.

Diane’s Doll:

About three year’s ago, one of my former literature professors was having Christmas dinner with my family and with the family of another of my old profs.   They used to have Christmas dinner at night, in their church hall.  My literature prof started telling me about his sister’s doll, kept carefully in his mother’s closet until his own mother died.  The doll, also a Schildkroet, could be a sister to Marlene, Inge Auerbacher’s doll.  Diane, my prof’s sister, passed away when she was 5.  She never got to play with the doll, which is dressed in a traditional Swedish outfit, and lies preserved in her original box.  I have pictured her in this post.

My professor asked me if I would like to see the doll, and if I would be interested in buying her.  Diane’s doll resided with me for a year; next Christmas, he asked me again.  Meanwhile, I had sent him all kinds of information about celluloid dolls and Schildkroet.  We agreed on a fair price.  My doll will become part of Dr. Ellen’s Doll Museum when we have our brick and mortar structure in place, and the money paid for her was donated to charity in Diane’s name.

For photos of Inge’s doll, please read Stephanie Stunk Baker’s excellent article in “Doll Castle News.”  My own doll is pictured here.

Even in horrific times, dolls comfort children.  Several years ago, “Doll Reader” featured a story about a doll that belonged to Ann Frank. Another of their articles once featured  toys allegedly made by children in concentration camps similar to Terezin.  Locally, there was a story in our paper about a little girl in Russia who kept her small doll with her and who made doll clothes out of scraps.  She suffered and nearly starved, but kept her doll as solace throughout. There are Holocaust documentaries that talk of little children, doomed to die in the gas chambers, who fashioned toys out of trash and played games, even when they knew they were going to die.

My own theory is that many of the German doll companies, which were run by Jewish families, were taken over by the NAZIs.  Doll maker Edith Samuel managed to flee and continued to make dolls in Israel.  Dina Vierny, whom I’ve written about before, managed to keep her fantastic dolls, and helped people to escape the NAZIS.  I would like more evidence on this theory of what happened to some of the German doll makers, and I would like to write more about them as a memorial to Inge, to my own family, and to Ann Frank and the millions of other innocent children who died in the concentration camps and during the horrors of The Second World War.

Two excellent books about dolls and the Holocaust include “The Doll with the Yellow Star” and “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit.”  More books on the Holocaust comprise the Jeff Leibowitz collection, Western Illinois University.

Categories:  Assign to –

Antique Dolls

Dolls 1930s-1950s

Quick information for doll collectors

Books about dolls

Dolls by Type and Material


Links:

The Folk Toy Assignment:  Dolls Teach School:



Lesson Plans for a Doll Course:

Dolls and Material Culture Studies:



Building a General Collection:

Dina Vierny: Artist Model Doll Collector

Thoughts on Doll Value and the Future of Doll Collecting:





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