Holocaust survivor finds healing through needle and thread

The Allied invasion of Normandy 80 years ago today marked a pivotal event that historians often refer to as the beginning of the end of World War II. This operation began the liberation of Nazi-occupied territories and eventually ended the atrocities that resulted in the extermination of more than 6 million Jewish people.

Trudie Strobel, 86, is a Holocaust survivor who, as a child, worked alongside her mother in labor camps. Her mother, Masha, was a seamstress who was forced to sew clothes for Adolf Hitler's army.

Weaving her story of persecution and perseverance, Strobel hand-stitches her dark memories into tapestries.

She recalled an incident at the age of 4 when a Nazi "tore my doll away from me" and her mother's emotional response.

"My mother, she was so afraid, and she says, 'Don't cry, Trudella, don't cry,'" Strobel recalled.

The doll was a gift from her father, Vasilliy Labuhn, who was taken away from his family because he was Jewish.

"It is incredible to even verbalize all of this abuse that was given to us. I was just fearful. Always fear. And the most fear I had was that they would take me away from my mama," Strobel said.

Strobel recalled hearing being called "Dirty Jew," as she and her mother were packed into a cattle car in Russia. They rode for more than 600 miles and then walked to a labor camp in Poland. She remembers seeing people falling down, unable to walk or move anymore.

"I somehow still feel like I carry all of us on my shoulders," said Strobel.

In 1945, Strobel and her mother were freed by American soldiers after Germany surrendered, ending World War II.  Strobel and her mother traveled to the United States, and the moment of arriving in New York Harbor is forever etched in her memory as she recalled people crying. 

"We were all so happy," she said.

In 1951, Strobel and her mother settled in Chicago and began a new life. She worked in a kitchen at the age of 13, learning how to mop floors and peel potatoes.

At 18, she married Hans Strobel and raised two sons. 

Honoring her history with tapestries

Strobel began sewing tapestries in mid-life when the horrors she witnessed came flooding back. Unable to eat or speak, she chose a needle and thread to express what was in her mind—a lifesaving skill she learned while quietly crouched at her mother's side. 

The sewing became healing as Strobel slowly stitched her life back together while honoring Jewish history.

While imprisoned, Strobel recalls looking to the skies and imagining the geese she loved back home in Russia, who appear in many of her pieces.

She only shared her work with family and close friends until 8 years ago when she met Jody Savin and her daughter, Maya. As part of her bat mitzvah studies, Maya asked to meet a Holocaust survivor. Savin — an author and filmmaker — and her daughter were in awe of the art and powerful story of survival.

"For me looking at Trudie's art, it feels like she is holding up a lens to her life. It was like this completely eye-opening experience. Like this visceral Holocaust education, genocide education that I'd never had before," said Maya Miller.

She formed a friendship with Strobel, convincing her that her work needed to be shown, and even found the first sponsor to put the tapestries on display. Strobel has since traveled around the country sharing her story.

Savin recently wrote Strobel's biography and is working on a documentary to preserve her story for future generations. 

Despite the horrors she witnessed in her life, Strobel said she has refrained from anger and bitterness because holding onto hatred only spreads it.

"The person next to you is of the same value as you are. We must respect that person," she said. "And if we all do this on Earth, you know, we would never have a war. We'd all get along. And we'd dance together."