"Boris Kobe's Tarot Cards from Allach Concentration Camp (probably 1945)."

Thanks for the additional info, Mabuse -- I was wondering bout the double-bodied cards. Sucks about the mis-informed linkage, but the cards as Tarock/game-playing makes a lot of sense.

<<I find it surprising people query the deck having a sense of humour. What else is there amongst such horror and daily humiliation. Humour is one defence the human mind uses to create distance and keep sane in insane conditions.>> (-caridwen)

well put. just...well put.

Those cards create a flood of emotion in me. More so than any other deck.

Reading Tarot in Bergen/ Belsen

My Grandmother Elizza was interred at CC Bergen/ Belsen (being Manoush Gypsy)
She, at the beginning, had one of her Tarot decks with her, but when it was taken away she replaced it with small rectangular cards made from cardboard --about 6 cm long by 4cm wide. My mother, who was also there, told the stories -that they drew the images with a mixture of charcoal, blood and fat. My mother, being very pretty was nightly called upon to "service" the officers and thereby managed to steal some pencils and even an ink-pen. These were used for writing letters to be smuggled out of the camp. that was more important then drawing Tarot cards. Cards drawn with blood -
( ladies think of the obviouse source....!!) were said to have more power to prophecise.
What most people wanted to know, was ifffff their loved ones were alive and ifff they were going to make it out of there. My grany did. losing all her body hair to caustic soap experiments and my mother spied and passed on information to..... Welll this is besides this thread.....

Oh jesus Mi-Shell. Whew. I have to go outside for air now. So much pain there.

Good thing I did a search.

I want to revive this thread, because I think that this deck is an amazing document. As a Jew, I strive to connect my Tarot practice to my religious and cultural identity, and the existence of this deck means so much to me in that regard. Obviously, the significance of this deck is as a document of the history of the Shoah (Holocaust), but it also strengthens my Jewish connection to Tarot, and that is awesome.

I'm glad you revived this thread. This deck is heart-wrenching in the truest sense of the word, but it's important to see. This can't be forgotten.

And thank you, Mi-Shell, for giving us that glimpse into your history. I am so sorry your foremothers suffered so.