Red Knit Hats: A Symbol of Resistance

By Paul Orlando

During WWII Nazi soldiers occupied Norway.  Red knit hats became a popular way to demonstrate

resistance to the occupation.  The Nazis outlawed the red hats but Norwegians continued making and wearing them.

This idea resonated with Gilah Mashaal, the owner of a yarn store in Minneapolis during the weeks-long occupation of the Twin Cities by federal immigration paramilitaries known as I.C.E.  She said, “That’s extremely fitting for this moment.  Me, being a Jewish small business owner, that resonates with me on so many levels.”  The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul also have a high level of Norwegian ancestry.

Her knitting group created a pattern for a red knit cap and published it on Ravelry, the social network for knitters, and made it available as a $5.00 download, with proceeds benefiting a group helping people affected by ICE raids.  The idea took off and they have raised over $700,000, and counting.

Here in Michigan’s Twin Cities Yehudit “Deet” Newman, who has been a member of the BCDP for over five years, and has a long history of being involved with the local Dems wherever she has lived, embraced the red knit hat idea.  Deet is part of the BCDP “Yarn Collective”, a group who knits all year to provide hats, mittens and other apparel to the underprivileged and seniors.  She comes from a family of Jewish immigrants and said that “immigration resonates with me”.  She calls herself a “craftivist”.

So, she began knitting miniatures of the red knit hat that people could wear as an accessory to show their resistance to ICE.  The miniature hats sell for $5.00 with the proceeds donated to charity in memory of her mentor, Claira Gray, who taught her to knit and was an Auschwitz survivor.

Deet invites anyone who knits or crochets to join her at the BCDP “Yarn Collective” knitting group, which meets each Wednesday at 1:00, and to stop by the BCDP office and purchase a miniature red knit hat to show solidarity.