“Out of Ashes” Out of the fires of the inferno. The Hands; Hands emerged out of the fire ready to rebuild their lives, ready to fight back and raise a new generation strong and confident, a generation that will never face the fires again. The Silhouettes; The dark silhouettes slowly appearing, emerging, walking away but promising to keep the flame burning. The sobbing face; The sad and sobbing face on the left remembering and promising to never forget.
“Mama, Tell me another story…”My mother, her sister and her mother were together in Auschwitz. The smoke stacks, the many dead, the smell of burned flesh. The burning synagogues, the barbed wire all remain vivid in her memory. The two young sisters who were strong and could be used for slave labor returned from the grips of death. The mother, the older one, had nothing to offer…She was exterminated.
“Papa, Tell me again…” My father’s time during the war…his life was unfolding around the gun. As a young Zionist in “Hasomer Hatzaeir” to a labor camp worker. A Partisan fighting in the Warsaw Ghetto he was shot and 13 bullets almost stopped him. The visions of a hill in the Ukraine city of Dovino where all the town’s Jews were shot and buried in a mass grave haunted him. The mound did not stop moving for several days after the annihilation. The dream of immigrating to Israel came true as he joined the battle for the creation of a new home land. He carried the world on his shoulders for 50 years. Life was not kind to him; it was a very hard life.
“Death Walk” A gift from all who have perished. They came one by one out of the water through the color. They stood in a row and they commanded “Enough” Let us go, Let it go
“Forest of Souls” They appeared as though they had a plan of their own. They came through the watercolor on the paper. I could see them and they could see me… reminding me to tell their story reminding me not to forget.
“Rehabilitation” Coming out of darkness on the doorsteps of death the survivors began to rebuild their lives, rehabilitate their souls and reclaim their dignity. To turn pain and suffering, hopelessness and darkness into the dawning of a hopeful future. With mending hands, they put their lives back together and returned to the living.
“60 Years Later” I have survived. I have raised a family. I have continued………… But I am still behind barbed wire I can not escape the visions.”
“Memories” As the years go by, and as I reflect on the past… I am in the twilight of my life… I can still see the faces…… hear the voices…… and smell the air…… I can not escape these sensations. I can’t forget. When I close my eyes at night I am still there. We’re all together again……….
” Shalom Aba” On November 7, 1997 in the wisp of a moment my father was gone. From our hands to His hands. I know he is in a better place now – a place of peace and solitude. I realize now how precious every Memory is. The survivors are slowly withering into extinction. Each time one dies, another story fades into indifference. Unless we continue to remember… to keep the flame alive…to never allow prejudice and hatred to repeat history. Shalom Aba……………………Shalom
“Going Home” Shoulder to shoulder they stand, waiting. Year after year they have been waiting, Children and Parents, Young and Old, Chasid and Zionist. In Silence they wait. In the Forest thicket they stand. And they stand… Silent. And I see them. And I mourn for them.
“The Ultimate Secrifice” For two thousand years we have been in the Diaspora. For two thousand years we prayed that “Next year we’ll be in Jerusalem.” After our final sacrifice we have come home, Never again to be brought to the sacrificial alter.
“Memorial Wall” In the summer of 2003 I traveled to Poland. Specifically to Treblinka, the death camp, where I was shown head stones that came from desecrated cemeteries in the Treblinka vicinity. These head stones were used by evil to pave roads and further erase the history of Jewish life in Europe. Since then I have been working on creating a memorial for all the cemeteries that have been destroyed and I hope to raise awareness and support for the restoration of these cemeteries. This wall stands 8′ high and is made of reproduced headstones that I saw at Treblinka. It is part of the Holocaust Series. This is a picture of the Wall, front at right, back below.
