The Green Sweater

September 3, 2019 9:14 AM

In 2003, Lea Stern saw a green sweater on display at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The sweater was worn by one of Poland's hidden children, Krystyna Chiger, as she successfully hid from the Nazis in the sewers of Lvov for over a year (click on 'About this Object' to read more of the story). Stern has recreated the pattern, making it available to a new generation of knitters and helping people learn about Krystyna's story. Pattern sales have raised $3000 for the USHMM so far. [via Ravelry's blog]
posted by jacquilynne (6 comments total)

I watched a documentary about Belzec last year; one of the informants in it is a woman who, as a child, was successfully hidden, in various terrible places, for something like three years. Absolutely chilling and terrifying.
posted by thelonius at 9:26 AM on September 3, 2019

That is very cool.
posted by wicked_sassy at 9:40 AM on September 3, 2019

There is a pretty good Polish movie, In Darkness, based on these events.

I appreciate this project as a way to engage with history in a tactile, visceral way, but also because of that, (at least for me, as a Jewish knitter with a young daughter) it falls into the "no thanks, not for me" category. I certainly couldn't imagine making it for her.
posted by damayanti at 10:00 AM on September 3, 2019 [7 favorites]

You're not alone in that, damayanti. The pattern has sold a lot more copies than there are Ravelry projects -- people support the idea of the project, but they don't necessarily want to own the sweater.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:51 AM on September 3, 2019

Let's not talk about how many more patterns I have copies of than works completed or even in progress...

(For this one I'm tempted to buy the pattern just to read it, and I don't even knit.)
posted by asperity at 11:10 AM on September 3, 2019

This is a very cool way to honor and explore history. Reminds me of some of the work that re-enactors/historic costumers are doing right now (esp. POC) to change public perception of the past.
posted by Miss T.Horn at 4:11 PM on September 4, 2019 [1 favorite]