Newspaper article about Trude Owen's embroidery on Arc curtain for new synagogue at Clifton College in Bristol

Disgrifiad

A newspaper cutting about Trude Owen and how she was using her talent for needlework to raise money from charity. She made an Arc curtain for the new synagogue at Polack's House, Clifton College, in Bristol.

Trude Owen (1926-2003) was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia to observant Jewish parents. Having heard many of his speeches on the radio, Trude's father Hans anticipated danger from Adolf Hitler in 1938 and began to plan a move of his whole family to south Wales where he had the opportunity to set up a factory due to the South Wales Development Agency.

While twelve-year old Trude and her older sister fifteen-year old Ilse were able to take the trip from Nazi Germany to Britain in early 1939, their mother Hilda was almost left behind in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Hans had to claim that one of their daughters was seriously ill to convince the German authorities to let her leave for the United Kingdom.

Trude first discovered her skill at textile production due to her mother's own ability as a needlewoman and her encouragement that Trude and her sister busy themselves with hobbies. Her parents' acquisition of an embroidery factory in Treforest also likely fuelled her interest. When she was nearing forty, she took a ten-week needlework course which allowed her to perfect her ability. Trude went on to make over twenty-five curtains for Arks in Synagogues including the one in the Cardiff Reform Synagogue, of which she was a member.

The second article, dated 8 February 1974, provides more details about the new synagogue at Bristol College'. It describes the consecration of a new synagogue at Clifton College in Bristol. The original Synagogue had been opened back in 1909.

The service was led by Reverend Malcolm Weisman: the Jewish chaplain at Oxford University. He stressed the importance of interfaith understanding and expressed his hope that the boys at the collage, Jewish and Gentile alike, would respect each other's beliefs and learn from each other.

Depository: Glamorgan Archives.