Broken Threads

Broken Threads tells the story of the destruction of the Jewish fashion industry under the Nazis.Jewish designers were very prominent in the fashion industry of 1930s Germany and Austria. The emergence of Konfektion, or ready-to-wear, and the development of the modern department store, with its innovative merchandising and lavish interior design, only emphasized this prominence. The Nazis came to see German high fashion as too heavily influenced by Jewish designers, manufacturers and merchandisers. These groups were targeted with a campaign of propaganda, boycotts, humiliation and Aryanization.Broken Threads chronicles this moment of cultural loss, detailing the rise of Jewish design and its destruction at the hands of the Nazis. Superbly illustrated with photographs and fashion plates from the collection of Claus Jahnke, Broken Threads explores this little-known part of fashion and of Nazi history.

"Richly illustrated and clearly written--it illumines both visually and intellectually the role of Jews in German culture and commerce and the creative contribution of Jews to German and Austrian national life. By focusing on one industry, Broken Threads explores in rich detail some of the largest issues in both Weimar culture and the Nazi assault against the Jews." --Michael Berenbaum, former Project Director, The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

"The vibrant rags-to-riches spectrum of direct Jewish involvement in the fashion industries of Germany and Austria is brought to life in this important new book which details the insidious dismantling and destruction of an entire culture." --Sima Godfrey, Director, Institute for European Studies, University of British Columbia