

The need for the Holocaust memorials are for monuments to those who do not even have a gravesite. However, the true legacy of the Holocaust is not the memorials, it is rather the nation resuscitated, the eternal Israel. Rabbi Riskin explains: ” … On Passover we not only memorialise our servitude in Egypt, but emphasize our Exodus. Our G-d is fundamentally a redeemer; the principal characteristic of our people must not be its pain but rather its eternity. The emotions evoked by these new and brilliantly designed Holocaust memorials will be wasted unless their message includes the awesome promise of resurrection. We dare not monumentalise our people with the image of death. At the same time that we castigate the nations of the world for having created a climate which could allow a Holocaust, and document the horrors of the Nazi scourge, we dare not forget that Israel emerged victorious from its war against Hitler.”
My painting of Frank Meisler’s Berlin monument to the “kindertransport” children is published at pages 9 and 10 of the April 2015 edition of the magazine of the Kindertransport Jewish Refugee Group in London, which can be viewed by clicking this link. These were 669 German Jewish child refugees who were destined for Nazi concentration camps, but were rescued by Sir Nicholas Winton. In the period from 1938 to 1940 he arranged for 8 trains to take them from their families in Germany to foster-families and care facilities in England. My painting is dedicated to my uncle Bernd Koschland, himself one of the Kindertransport child refugees, who now lives in London and is the editor of that magazine.
The nature of the Jewish peoples’ covenant means that even when they are subjected to the unimaginable cruelty of a Holocaust, the message remains the same: The covenant needs to be remembered, the Jewish people need to be a light unto the nations to show the world how to rise above baser instincts. One is created in the image of G-d and therefore we need to live according to the values of justice and mercy. In that way, suffering itself becomes the source of the Jewish message to the world.
Below is a link on which you can view and page through the exhibition catalogue that was written by Dr Ute Ben Yosef for the “I Did Not Forget You: The World Holocaust Memorial Series” exhibition of my paintings held at the Cape Town Holocaust Centre in December 2015/January 2016. Click on the link below to view the entire catalogue (which can be enlarged) that contains detailed explanations of all the works that were exhibited. The originals of these paintings are not for sale, as they will still be exhibited further, but prints of the works as well as copies of the catalogue are available for purchase below.
PLEASE NOTE that PRINTS are delivered as rolled up un-mounted canvas prints. Purchasers will still have to have the prints mounted or framed, as they prefer. If you require a mounted print, please contact Abigail for a quotation customised for your locality.
Showing 1–12 of 28 results