Historical information

Else Oertel and her daughter Else-Lore were interned in Camp 3A from 1940. Her husband was not interned as he was on a business trip to Germany when war broke out. Friedel Dehnel "Tante Fiffi" made the authentic Bavarian doll and clothes. Friedel, wife of Walter Dehnel, arrived as a young woman from Austria, working in the Victorian snowfields as a chef and was a champion skier. She then became a dressmaker for Melbourne society and insisted that she be interned to be with her husband. She made costumes for the internment camp plays and took over her husband's duties as a cook for Camp A when he was locked up for "insubordination". She was deported with her husband back to Germany after the war and cared for her orphaned nephews and nieces in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Physical description

Hand made Authentic Bavarian doll. He wears a bottle green woolen hat with light green band and white feather. Bottle green jacket with red trim on front opening and pockets. Red jumper with white pointed collar. Leather lederhosen with flower embroidery on waist and braces. Arms and legs made from hessian? Leather boots with laces. White knitted socks with green band. Hand sewn and painted face.