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Episode 19: Core Strength

Carola Trier – Story of a Pilates Icon

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Publicity portrait of Carola Trier, Leo Baeck Institute Archives, Carola S. Trier Collection, AR 25039, F 60288.
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Carola Trier demonstrating Pilates, Leo Baeck Institute Archives Carola S. Trier Collection, AR 25039, F 24412.
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Holiday card from Joseph and Clara Pilates to Carola Trier, December 1956. Courtesy of the New York Public Library.
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The page in Carola Trier's handwritten memoir in which she describes meeting her lover, the entertainment manager Marcel Neydorff. Leo Baeck Institute Archives Carola S. Trier Collection, AR 25039, Box 1, Folder 10.

Carola’s dream is to be a dancer. In 1935, she moves from Germany to Paris to pursue a career on stage. But as a young, Jewish performer, Carola struggles with a lack of fulfilling work, dwindling funds, and a rising tide of antisemitism. Carola’s strong will carries her through the perils of Nazi-occupied France, losing the love of her life, and the long journey to America—where she finds a new passion that becomes her greatest legacy.

The Carola Trier Collection in the LBI Archives includes Carola’s extensive handwritten and typed notes for her unpublished memoir, publicity photographs for her contortionist on wheels act titled “Miss Carola” – and Pilates manuals. LBI also holds the archival collections of her father, the chemist Eduard Strauss, and her husband, Edgar Trier.

Exile is a production of the Leo Baeck Institute, New York and Antica Productions. It’s narrated by Mandy Patinkin. This episode was written by Emily Morantz.

Our executive producers are Laura Regehr, Rami Tzabar, Stuart Coxe, and Bernie Blum. Our producer is Emily Morantz. Research and translation by Isabella Kempf. Voice acting by Hanna Kent. Sound design and audio mix by Philip Wilson. Theme music by Oliver Wickham.

This episode of Exile is made possible in part by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Finance and the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future.