The Trunk

Lusia's Trunk

Jakob and Lusia's trunk was packed with their possessions from their apartment located on Hardtmuthgasse in Vienna. All the fabric and non-breakable objects were packed away in the trunk including Lusia's dresses, her Persianner coat, Jakob's shirt, bedding, towels and curtains. Lusia's embroideries and unfinished tablecloth were packed away with extra embroidery thread as well.

The trunk stood in plain sight in the dining room of the apartment in New Haven where Susan lived until she was eleven. After the family moved to the suburbs, the trunk was stored out of sight in a spare room off Susan's parent's bedroom. 

In 1972, the family decided it was time to open up the trunk to reveal its contents as Susan began to uncover the secret of the trunk's owner. 

Lusia's Dresses

The Red and Green Dress

Fabric: Rayon

The Red and Green Dress was Susan's favorite among Lusia's dresses. Unbeknownst to Susan, Jakob had written to Samuel from Antwerp in 1940 requesting that the dress be returned along with several other items from the trunk. For whatever reason, Samuel never complied with his uncles request:

"The red garment which the aunt wants to have is green on the underside. I mention this to you because there is also a red dressing gown which she does not want."

"Yet even at this moment, I still do not know the names of these relatives who had been stolen from me. As I try on the 'special' red dress with the little green squares, I come to realize that this is the very same cloth that my ancestor had once worn that now envelopes my own body. For a brief instant, I sense a distant kinship.

I don't know why, but I am drawn to this dress like a magnet. It is of a color which I can only best describe as rusted red and pea green. An Art Deco pattern of small pea-green open squares with tiny solid squares at one corner cover the entire surface of the fabric. Turning the skirt of the dress to look at the underside, I discover that the opposite is true. The pattern reverses and is now pea green with rusted red squares." 

(from Seeking A Common Thread)

Lusia's Tops

Lusia's Girdles

Lusia must have prized her girdles. She hand embroidered her initials in blue thread on them.                       In 1940, Jakob wrote to Samuel from Antwerp requesting that he return some of Lusia's clothing to her, including some of her girdles.

"I'm giving you an exact inventory of items packed in the trunk. Amongst other things there are two girdles-one is rose colored and one blue. I would like to ask you dear Samuel you should send the rose colored one, she needs it urgently..."

  (For purposes of privacy, we are showing close ups of these girdles to show the embroidered initials of "LS.")                             

The Persianner Coat

The Persianner Coat was Lusia's prized possession. In 1930s Vienna, black Persian lamb fur was valued higher than mink. For whatever reason, Lusia chose to pack the coat away in the trunk rather than to carry it along with her when she escaped to Antwerp.

Lusia's Tablecloth

Lusia's Tablecloth

The tablecloth was halfway finished by Lusia when she packed it away in the trunk. The incomplete half was stamped with paled blue ink with the predetermined design to be embroidered. Although Lusia had also packed away extra thread intended for the tablecloth's completion, it was up to Susan to discover that there wasn't enough thread. The tablecloth had to be finished using thread of recent manufacture.

"As my father gets closer to the bottom of the trunk, my attention drifts back towards those embroideries from the top tray. While no one is looking, I pull out the folded tablecloth from beneath the pile of some other needlework. As I proceed to open up the folded cloth, I discover that one half has remained blank, with only pale blue ink of the pattern stamped on it.

     Instantly, I feel a tinge of disappointment. My mother notices my frown. "What's the matter?" she asks.

       "Oh, it hasn't been finished," I shrug. "What use is it? What could we use a half-finished tablecloth for anyway?"

        "Wait, look," my mother says as she points to the skeins of embroidery thread which have fallen to the floor around my feet just as I had opened up the tablecloth. "That must be all the thread needed to complete the rest of it."

    I look down. There at my  feet are skeins and skeins of thread! All in different bright colors. I proceed to gather the packages of thread off the ground and gently place them on a nearby coffee table.

       Suddenly, I fell sorry for this orphan.

        The cloth speaks to me.

        As though it needs me." (from Seeking A Common Thread