There are moments at The Selfhelp Home when history doesn’t arrive in the form of dates or documents, but through something quieter and far more intimate.
Sometimes, it comes folded away. Sometimes, stitched together. Sometimes, laid across a table.
During the course of her ongoing research, Selfhelp Home Archivist Mandy Deleon was handed an unexpected artifact by Sofia Metovic, our beloved Director of Dining.
Sofia, who began working in the kitchen in 1988, recalled a handmade tablecloth that had long been used during holidays and special events. By the time she arrived, the cloth had already lived a full life. Eventually, it was retired as residents began favoring more modern table settings, viewing the handmade piece as too “folksy.”
Sofia believes it may have once been part of a pair and that a blue companion cloth may have existed.
What arrived in Mandy’s hands, however, was far more than a table covering.
“This tablecloth is a historical document,” Mandy reflects. “It tells stories of collectivism and survival. The people who signed it were supposed to be erased and survived against all odds. Not only were their voices not lost to history, but they are still speaking to us.”
That idea, of voices enduring through fabric and care, finds a powerful echo in another story connected to Selfhelp’s community. In Ethan Bensinger’s documentary The Righteous Man from Fulda, a remarkable journey unfolds around two unused tablecloths and the courage they represent.
While visiting Fulda, Germany in 2018 for a Kristallnacht commemoration, Ethan shared his family’s deep roots in the city and the fate of his great-uncle, Hugo Sichel, who was deported and murdered during the Holocaust.
Days later, an elderly Fulda resident, Hedi Römhild Schuhej, read about the visit and recognized Hugo’s name. She had safeguarded two tablecloths Hugo had given her father, Paul Römhild, decades earlier. Paul, who risked his family’s safety by secretly feeding Hugo when Jews were denied rations, had asked that the cloths never be used. Hedi honored that promise for sixty years.
In 2019, the Bensinger family traveled to Fulda to receive the tablecloths in person, closing a circle of gratitude, courage, and remembrance.
Two stories. Two tablecloths. One common thread.
For us at The Selfhelp Home, these objects remind us that survival is not only recorded in history books, but in the everyday items people choose to protect, preserve, and pass down. They affirm that memory lives in homes, in hands, and in shared spaces like ours.
Mandy’s research continues, and with it, the promise that more stories are waiting to be uncovered. We invite you to stay tuned, as Selfhelp continues to honor the past, preserve its voices, and carry their legacy forward.