Verzetsmuseum (The Dutch Resistance Museum)

Thanks to someone on Facebook I was made aware of a special exhibit at the Verzetsmuseum about embroideries done by women held captive in camps during WWII.  The museum was so interesting and informative in all respects.  Our first interaction was with the most unpleasant, authoritative woman at their front desk.  Unbelievably brusque and rude, to the point of making us laugh.  Aside from that, the museum was full of very poignant, bittersweet memorabilia, and we were educated about the resistance in a way that made this part of history come alive.
I was, of course, particularly moved by the samples of embroideries made by women held captive.  I simply cannot imagine being in their place, but somehow the story of how they held onto their sanity came alive through seeing these small works.  I took a sampling of photos so I could share with you.  It was unbelievably touching.

The description below this image is of the woman featured here.

What a gutsy broad!  

The "Winter Help" project was a propaganda move on the part of 

the Nazis to improve their image with the Dutch.

 women began to take threads from sheets, edges of garments, anywhere they could 

get them, and steal a needle from their repair kits from their workloads for the Germans.

Any small bit of cloth and thread was used to create their embroideries.

With this small defiant act, they found a way to express themselves.

 description below

 description below

 this bra was made by piece-mealing together bits of cloth.  It is

embroidered with the symbol of her work camp.