Jewish doll children as life companions through dark decades. The portrait dolls of the German-Jewish artist Edith Samuel from the 1920s and 1930s

Abstract

This article is focused on the work and life of the doll maker Edith Samuel (1907- 1964). She created her first “portrait dolls” during the 1920s and 1930s in Essen, Germany. They became known as "everyday dolls" and "Jewish dolls". Edith Samuel's talent as a doll maker became apparent from early on, and in the 1930s she was renowned in Germany for her art. In 1939, she emigrated to Palestine, and she successfully started a second career as a doll maker in Erez Israel. However, it is her early work that is to be contemplated here: A whole 'generation' of peculiar Jewish portrait dolls – which contributed to their owners’ sense of identity – must not be forgotten. These dolls were particularly important as animated companions in times of murderous persecution.