Wisconsin Life

>> This is the Lubar family. >> Yes, it is. >> Marianne Lubar and Kathie Bernstein have been on a quest ever since founding the Jewish Museum Milwaukee in 2008. >> This museum, it's small and people come in and they're amazed at the story we tell. Here we are. >> Here we are. >> And now, they're realizing a dream that first arrived on their doorstep nearly a decade before the museum ever existed. >> It touched my heart then, and I knew that it would be important. >> It was a letter. >> In 1997, we had a Jewish archives. And Bert Strnad came in and he said, "I have these pictures from my father." I opened up the packet, and here were these eight dress designs, and a letter from Paul Strnad to his cousin, Alvin. And because it had a Nazi stamp, it had been censored. >> Prague, 24th of October, 1938. Dear Alvin, you may imagine that we have great interest of leaving Europe as soon as possible. >> We just recently received a letter from 1938 that was much more explicit. >> An unavoidable consequence of these events will be death. The influence of Germany will greatly increase and you can imagine what this will mean to us Jews living here. >> The story, of course, is they were seeking help in leaving Prague, because the Germans had already entered the country. >> The eight dress designs, created by Paul's wife, Hedy Strnad, could be their ticket out. The Strnads had Jewish relatives in Czechoslovakia that owned a clothing store, just like their Jewish relatives in Milwaukee. >> I have sent you some of the dress designs my wife made, and I hope that the dress manufacturers you mentioned in your letter will like them. >> If an American dress maker picked-up the designs it could provide financial stability for the Strnads, helping them secure immigration papers. >> It was an interest right from the very beginning, from the time we acquired the letters, the drawings. >> And I knew that if we ever had a museum that that would be the centerpiece of the Holocaust area. >> And indeed, today it is front and center in the museum's Holocaust exhibit. All that remains of the Strnad's story are the letters and dress designs, because Hedy and Paul never made it out, never made it to Milwaukee, never realized their dreams. >> It's so sad to know that they died in the Holocaust. Kathie and Marianne made sure the Strnad's story survived. >> We have a picture of her with her husband, Paul. I mean, they were a beautiful looking couple. >> Here's Hedy, and what I love is the fact that she was saucy. >> Yeah, she was. >> And she had red hair and she smoked cigarettes. She had a shop and employed people. So, I think she was a pretty spunky gal. >> I think she represents many of the Jewish women I know who are quite strong, and self-driven. >> And yet there was still something missing. >> We're now going to take Hedwig Strnad's designs and we're going to make them real. We're gonna do it in her memory and in memory of everybody who lost their lives. >> Milwaukee's Repertory Theater costume shop helped stitch this story together, making Hedy's fashion-forward designs a reality. >> It became more than just sewing up a bunch of dresses. They created fabric. They hand printed, hand screened, hand everything. >> It's a difficult story to tell because, we want to show the talent of the woman, we want to also show the tragedy. And we took the giant step of doing this on our own, which is just a huge undertaking for such a small museum. They're fabulous! You know, you pick up a certain era, and a certain European flavor. >> There's the label that the Rep made from the letter with her signature, "Hedy." >> Yeah, "Hedy Original." >> She would've loved it. It's elegant, and she would of said, "Yeah, that's nice," in her saucy tone. Yeah. >> Marianne, this is an original. People are really going to love that. And I can't wait to see how the whole show sets up with these gorgeous clothes, complete with hats, bags, gloves, and shoes. No matter, what I'm going to make sure it's going to be fabulous, I guarantee you. >> Hedy and Paul have become part of our family. It is a great story. When the dresses were made, then it became like, wow, this is something. Hedy, where are you? You know, we did it for you.