Blocks made by Annie H. who lives in France

Annie H.’s beautiful story in French, then English . . . 

J’ai exercé le métier de préparatrice en pharmacie jusqu’à 55 ans, puis je me suis occupée d’une tante âgée de 93 ans atteinte de la maladie d’Alzheimer, jusqu’à ses 98 ans. Je suis mariée et mère de 3 garçons, grand-mère de 2 petits-enfants. Je suis maintenant à la retraite et j’en profite pour faire toutes ses occupations que je n’avais pas vraiment le temps de pratiquer avant.

Mon hobby de prédilection est le point de croix que je pratique depuis de nombreuses années, mais j’aime aussi beaucoup le crochet, le tricot, la couture, les miniatures au 12ème et… le patchwork. C’est en inscrivant sur le blog de Katell: La Ruche des Quilteuses, que j’ai découvert Le Projet 70273.

J’ai été sensibilisée par ce drame, mais surtout en lisant tous ces témoignages de personnes qui ont des souvenirs personnels de cette époque. Et aussi par toutes celles qui ont dans leurs proches quelqu’un de plus ou moins handicapé, qui aurait été sans aucun doute des victimes de ces monstres.Moi-même, j’ai eu un fort strabisme jusqu’à ce que l’on m’opère à 12 ans, je pense que j’aurais pu avoir droit à mes 2 croix.

Ces blocs représentent pour moi un geste affectueux envers les victimes, et en même temps, la colère à travers les croix rouges pour les “médecins” nazis qui les ont tracées. Ces bourreaux ont les mains ensanglantées, c’est pourquoi l’un de mes blocs comporte une croix faite d’empreintes et l’autre de vernis à ongle rouge symbolisant le sang de la victime. Mes premiers blocs ont laissé place à l’émotion plus qu’au rendement. Les suivants seront plus simples et rapides à faire, pour faire “du nombre”, parce que bien que la mobilisation s’intensifie, il y a encore BEAUCOUP BEAUCOUP à faire pour arriver aux 1100 quilts.

Je suis fière de participer à ce projet, et j’espère qu’à son terme, il fera réfléchir les jeunes générations à ce qu’une minorité d’extrémistes peuvent accomplir en horreurs au nom d’un certain idéal. Ce projet prendra du temps, mais il ne faudra jamais l’abandonner! l’union fait la force, ne l’oublions pas.

Blocks by Annie H., France

And now, in English (with a little help from Google Translate, just so you know) . . . 

I worked as a pharmacy preparer until age 55, and then I took care of a 93-year-old aunt with Alzheimer’s disease, until she was 98 years old. I am married and mother of 3 boys, grandmother of 2 grandchildren. I am now retired and I take the opportunity to do all his work that I did not really have time to practice before.

My favorite hobby is the cross stitch that I have been practicing for many years, but I also love crochet, knitting, sewing, miniatures on the 12th and … patchwork. It is by writing on the blog of Katell: La Ruche des Quilteuses, that I discovered Project 70273.

I was sensitized by this drama, but especially by reading all these testimonies of people who have personal memories of that time. And also by all those who have in their relatives someone more or less handicapped, who would undoubtedly have been the victims of these monsters. Myself, I had a strong strabismus until I was operated at 12 years, I think I could have been entitled to my two crosses.

These blocks represent for me an affectionate gesture towards the victims, and at the same time, anger through the red crosses for the Nazi “doctors” who have traced them. These executioners have their hands bloodied, that’s why one of my blocks has a cross made of prints and the other of red nail varnish symbolizing the blood of the victim. My first blocks have given way to emotion rather than to performance. The next ones will be simpler and quicker to do, to make “of the number”, because although the mobilization intensifies, there is still MUCH MUCH to make to arrive at the 1100 quilts.

I am proud to participate in this project, and I hope that in the end it will make the younger generations reflect on what a minority of extremists can accomplish in horror in the name of a certain ideal. This project will take time, but it should never be abandoned! Union is strength, let us not forget it.

~~~

Thank you, Annie. Your words are every bit as beautiful as your blocks. And you’re right: There is much, much more to do before we’ve commemorated every one of the 70,273 disabled people who were murdered, and we won’t stop stitching until every one of them has been remembered in stitch.

Perhaps you’d like to make blocks, dear readers? Maybe you’d like to request a bundle of blocks for you to piece and quilt? Or maybe you’d like to make your own complete quilt using blocks made by you, your family, your friends. And hey, if you’d like to do something a little different, if you’d like to flex your creative commemorative wings, you can make Middlings or Long Skinnies. (Other ways to make quilts are coming soon, so stay tuned for that.)