Wednesday, January 27, 2016

International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2016

71 years ago today, the Soviet Army entered Auschwitz and liberated the camp. Today, the international community remembers this day.

Yad Vashem has a remarkable online exhibit called "The Anguish of Liberation as Reflected in Art 1945-1947."

From their website:

"This special on-line exhibition, based on the Yad Vashem Art Collection, features works created between 1945 and 1947 and attempts to investigate how survivors reacted to the liberation through art.
For most of these survivor-artists, the ability to paint again signified freedom and renewed independence. The choice of their art's subject and the grip on the pencil or brush symbolically restored a feeling of control, after years of helplessness. The act of painting represented a process of psychological rehabilitation through which they could synthesize the trauma."

One of the more powerful images is by Israel Alfred Gluck. He was held in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. 

"This page depicts the moment of liberation at Buchenwald: a soldier riding on an American tank is shown as the savior and is eagerly received by the prisoners, yet most of them are unable to even stand in order to welcome him. The artist signs the drawing with his name, accompanied by his prisoner number from Auschwitz."

 Never Forget.


View more of the exhibit here:

http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/art-liberation/index.asp