Oven Gloves

Long gloves, said the Ancrene Wisse, were not for holy women.
In Bologna in 1294 samite gloves were banned, as perfumed 
gloves were in Rome in 1560. The Ditchley portrait of Elizabeth 
shows her left hand holding leather gloves. What symbolism there? 
By 1592 the Queen of England had made gloves the accessory to die for.

Talking of death, how often in films do we see the killer – strangler, 
assassin, gunmen or guard – wear black leather gloves. They did
in Auschwitz – ‘all the regalia necessary to convey a power impossible 
to challenge’. Those gloves asked a question: ‘is there an appropriate time 
in which to lose one’s family, one’s community, or one’s life?’



The quotes in the last two lines come from Auschwitz – The Evil of Man by Peter Kleinmann 

200,000 prisoner were freed from Auschwitz by the Red Army of Soviet Russia on 27 January 1945. It seems sad that as things stand the Russian head of state will not be represented at the commemorations.

See also the Reuters photos of Auschwitz survivors today.