Gift of Dr. Gisela Stein Gross

Id no. 388.96ab, Other

March 1938, Austria, Vienna

Subject(s):  Education-vocational, German Jewish life 1933-1943

Berta Landau Stein and her daughter Gisela (b. 1924, later Gisela Stein Gross) learned to sew these gloves in a course offered in Vienna, Austria in 1938. Their decision to enter the course came upon the unification of Austria and Germany in March 1938 and the continued rise in anti-Semitism. At this time, many Jews contemplated leaving the countries that had served as their homes for generations. To prepare for this difficult transition, various vocational training classes were offered by the Jewish communities and some were held in private residences. The goals were to offer educational opportunities for Jewish students barred from attending German schools and universities and to teach practical skills, which were not language-dependent, in the hopes that those who emigrated could support themselves abroad. Berta and Gisela attended a glove-making course for women which lasted two weeks and met for two hours per session. Gisela left for the U.S. on May 26, 1939. Her mother, Berta, and father, Henry, were able to leave in June 1940.