As the world moves into a new decade in the century after the Jewish Holocaust of World War II, questions continue to be asked about both the value of continuing to commemorate those events through museums and special exhibitions, and the lessons that people have learned from history. In the case of the latter, with continuing genocides, it can be said that, perhaps, no lessons have been learned at all. Regarding the former, the exhibitions and education programs utilizing the Holocaust as a teaching tool as well as one of commemoration, continues to be regarded as powerful and necessary.
Andrew Steiner and the Power of the Individual
Adelaide based sculptor Andrew Steiner is a Hungarian born Holocaust Survivor. His work is a mixture of contemporary Huon pine, leadlight windows and bronze. While his timber works are largely inspired by the nature of the wood itself, both the glass and bronze work often carry a Holocaust motif, commemorating those in his family and others who perished at the hands of the Nazis.
He offered his bronze, Remembering the Holocaust, to the South Australian Migration Museum for their collection. Due to Museum policies, he was told that they could not accept the piece. Through further discussions, he was offered the community space, The Forum, within the Museum, to mount an exhibition, in which his bronze would be a central piece.
This began a two-year odyssey to create an exhibition, the first of its kind in Adelaide, specifically to commemorate the Holocaust. While there are many different ways to curate a Holocaust exhibition, they are dictated by the availability of objects and images, space and resources, like any other exhibition, and a central motif is needed to hold what can often become a jumble of many different items together.
Art in the Holocaust
As an artist, Steiner is well versed in the art of the Holocaust, and chose that as his framework around which to begin collecting work. As Steiner said in an interview for the Eastern Courier, a local Adelaide newspaper, “Art is very important because the works will keep on living and reminding, they are an eye-witness testament.”
The artworks are also works of single people, often at great risk, which are ultimately great works of resistance when, to be discovered meant death for themselves and/or their associates. The ingenuity demonstrated by artists incarcerated in concentration camps in order to produce and hide artwork was remarkable and the works exhibited in this exhibition carry a powerful message of courage in the face of unimaginable horrors.
Alfred Kantor’s Holocaust Diaries
As a central motif to link the exhibition together, Steiner has used a selection of images from the Alfred Kantor Holocaust Diaries. Kantor, a Czech born Jew, was deported to Theresienstadt in 1943. From there he was sent to Auschwitz and later to the work camp, Schwarzheide. His diaries are a remarkable documentation of daily life in all three camps.
Steiner has utilized the drawings done from memory after Kantor was liberated that he drew to replace those that had been lost, commenting at the time that the images were etched into his memory. With their English captions, they are a very accessible, almost cartoon like narrative that is particularly accessible to the young students who have visited the exhibition for education programs.
Andrew Steiner and Remembering the Holocaust
Steiner’s bronze work is one of three similar pieces. The first edition is in the collection of the Holocaust Centre in Melbourne, while the second is in the Memorial Museum of Hungarian Speaking Jewry in Sfat, Israel. The works are created via the lost wax casting process and each edition has seen changes so that they are three distinctly separate works.
The sculptures commemorate the large loss to the Jewish people through the events of the Holocaust more. More particularly, they are a memorial to the thirteen members of Steiner’s family who died in Europe at the hands of the Nazis.
Yosl Bergner – The Warsaw Ghetto
Gathering the number of works for an exhibition of this nature was not easy, and Steiner was dependent on the generosity of interstate Holocaust institutions. However, one work is part of the display due to the generosity of curatorial staff of the Art Gallery of South Australia. Yosl Bergner’s Warsaw Ghetto was painted after the war following Begner’s immigration to Australia.
Bergner didn’t stay in the country, moving eventually to Israel. However, while resident in Australia, he produced a number of Holocaust based works, in addition to many paintings of the Australian Indigenous people, with whom he identified as a persecuted minority.
Educating Teenagers About the Holocaust
Teaching teenagers about the Holocaust means finding a way past the statistics. It is impossible to grasp the human story when confronted by numbers like 6,000,000 dead, or even 1,500,000 children who perished. Director of Pedagogy in the School of Education at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, stresses the importance of ‘teaching the individual’ – telling the story of single people.
Steiner’s exhibition takes just this approach. He spoke many times, in interview, of “the power of one”, ie, the ability of one person to convey a strong message. By using the artwork as the primary carrier of this particular history, Steiner presents us with the unique vision of individuals in their portrayal of their Holocaust experiences.
The exhibition will be open until the end of August 2010 at the South Australian Migration Museum.
Karen Finch - Karen is a Sydney based freelance writer, artist and musician. To learn more, click on her name to read her profile.
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