Nazi Anti-Semitism Destroyed Berlin Fashion Industry
The Atlanta Jewish Times reported on the discussion panel for the opening night event launching the traveling exhibition “Fashioning a Nation: German Identity and Industry 1914-1945” curated by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust and hosted by the German Cultural Center.
The discussion focused on how Jews had dominated German fashion before World War II. As historian Uwe Westphal told the audience: creative and innovative fashion by Jewish-German designers created the Roaring Twenties. The story of the Wolff family’s fur business and what happened was part of the event.
Between 1930 and 1939 the Nazis closed all Jewish fashion companies. Sadly, as Westphal explained, today’s German fashion students are ignorant of this sordid history.