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. The doll, named Karl by Else-Lore, was hand-carved by internee Alfons Koenig.
Friedel Dehnel "Tante Fiffi" made the authentic Bavarian 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

Body, head, arms and legs carved from wood. Blue eyes, yellow hair, pink lips and skin all hand painted. Wearing a grey crochet hat with orange feather and grey crochet jacket with two metal buttons. Jacket and hat have green trim. Grey felt shorts with leather braces and green trim. White shirt and tan color tie. White socks and brown leather sandals.