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You see an ugly ottoman or a faded armchair; she sees a lost history waiting to be revived

JL;DR SUMMARY Ruti Wajnberg, a former product manager turned upholsterer, transforms old furniture into pieces filled with personal and historical significance from her Brooklyn studio. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

BrooklynHolocaust SurvivorsJewish HeritagePersonal HistoryMemory PreservationArtistic PursuitsHeirloomsRuti WajnbergUpholsteryFurniture Revival

Places mentioned

New York City, New York, United States
"Ruti Wajnberg in her Brooklyn studio."
New Jersey, United States
"Whenever she and her sisters would make the trek from New Jersey to visit their grandmother in Brighton Beach, they would roll around on the mushroom-shaped seat."
Brighton Beach, New York, United States
"Whenever she and her sisters would make the trek from New Jersey to visit their grandmother in Brighton Beach, they would roll around on the mushroom-shaped seat."
Israel
"When Wajnbergs parents fled Poland as teenagers her mothers family to Israel and her fathers to New York via Italy they could take very little with them."
Poland
"As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and the daughter of Jews who were expelled from Communist Poland in 1968, Wajnberg doesnt have many heirlooms."
Italy
"her fathers to New York via Italy"

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Retrieved 2025-10-13 05:31:09 UTC
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