The 70273 Project
Would you give the shirt off your back?
There is a global project to commemorate each of the 70,273 victims of Aktion T4 by stitching two
red crosses onto white fabric.
The white fabric symbolises the piece of paper that held medical information about a person, and if
two doctors put a red cross on the bottom of it, this meant that the person was unfit for Nazi
society and an economic burden and would be killed. Aktion T4 is the name for the extermination
programme of mentally and physically disabled men, women and children, that was signed by
Hitler and which was the forerunner to the 'Final Solution' and the Holocaust.
Across the South East, we are collecting together these blocks of fabric that will then be stitched
together and displayed in Rochester Cathedral from January to March 2018 to coincide with
National Holocaust Memorial Day on the 27th of January.
This is an opportunity to teach about this lesser known part of history, with the message that we
have come a long way in acceptance of others, but we still have a long way to go.
Would you consider making some blocks with your pupils in the second half of the Summer term
or at the beginning of the Autumn term? Ask your pupils to bring in an old, white school shirt for
the fabric - the two red crosses can be stitched, painted, appliqued, screen printed, stamped ...
ribbon and wundaweb work a treat too! The fabric needs to be cut into rectangles of 16.5x24.2cm
or 24.2x31.8cm. There is no limit to the ways they can be made, and the power of The Project is
that such a simple symbol can vary so much and send such a strong message, and that is what
we are celebrating - that we are all perfectly imperfect and unique.
We are part of a worldwide collaboration which will see all 70,273 people commemorated, in over
1000 quilts. In the South East we are hoping to fill all 12 arches of Rochester Cathedral's nave
with 8 foot by 5 foot hangings. Each hanging will contain approximately 250 fabric blocks,
representing 250 people. If you need further information, please contact Lucy Horner who is coordinating The Project for the South East - [email protected] or 07946 540479. The
blocks can be handed in to Francis Iles Galleries, 103 High Street, Rochester ME1 1LX. Please
include a list of contributor’s names and the name of the school. If anonymity is preferred, then
the name of the school will be used in a public display, rather than the individual, but for
provenance and archival reasons, a record of individual contributors is required which will be kept
private.
You can find more information about The 70273 Project on the website www.artycat.com which
also has a number of links to websites with more history on the Aktion T4 programme, and a short,
dramatised film.
The deadline for handing blocks in is 31.10.17 as they will then be stitched together and made into
the quilted panels.
Thank you for your help.