Art from the Ashes

Excerpted from Diller Fund Grant, Osher-Marin Jewish Community Center: "As first-hand memories of the Holocaust recede into history and the generation most intimately affected by its horrors grows older, new generations struggle for a poignant way of evoking the memory of the lost world of European Jewish life. Toward this end, painter and photographer Helene Fischman, a highly respected Bay area artist and educator, created "artist residencies" for herself in former Nazi territory. In Terezín/Terezinstadt, Czech Republic, she created an artist studio in a crumbling, former Nazi Barrack. In Oświęcim/Auschwitz, Poland, she spent two months painting in an old storage room formerly used for munitions at the Auschwitz Jewish Center/Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot, the town's only surviving synagogue...Click here for complete statement

Articles:
Alexandra Wall, "Bay area artist hopes to turn horror into hope at Auschwitz," Northern California Jewish Bulletin, June 4, 2004.
Alexandra Wall, " 'Art from the Ashes,' opens window on death camps," Northern California Jewish Bulletin, April 14, 2006.

Down Cellar: Shimshon Klieger's family home Oświęcim, Poland 2004	Five-Thirty: Shimshon Klieger's family home Oświęcim, Poland 2004	Living Room: Shimshon Klieger's family home Oświęcim, Poland 2004
Hallway: Shimshon Klieger's family home Oświęcim, Poland 2004	Staircase: Shimshon Klieger's family home Oświęcim, Poland 2004	Children's Target Terezín, Czech Republic 2003
Ohře River: Terezín street sign Terezín, Czech Republic 2003	Descending A Staircase: Self-Portrait in former Nazi barrack (After Marcel Duchamp, "Nude Descending a Staircase") Terezín, Czech Republic 2003	Honey: Oświęcim Farmer's Market Oświęcim, Poland 2004
Renewal: Snail eating moss on tombstone in reconstructed Jewish cemetary Oświęcim, Poland 2004	Jacob's Ladder: View down pool ladder, reflecting rain water Terezín, Czech Republic 2003	Something Broken: Rubble from 2002 floods Terezín, Czech Republic 2003
On Your Mark: Diving block, prison swimming pool Terezín, Czech Republic 2003	Old Spokes: Broken bicycles in former munitions warehouse Terezín, Czech Republic 2003	Leader of the Pack: Street kitty in Terezín Terezín, Czech Republic 2003
Sinking: Former prison bathroom Terezín, Czech Republic 2003	Winter in Oświęcim: The Lost Shabbos Oświęcim, Poland 2004	Spring in Oświęcim: The Lost Shabbos Oświęcim, Poland 2004
Summer in Oświęcim: The Lost Shabbos Oświęcim, Poland 2004	Fall in Oświęcim: The Lost Shabbos Oświęcim, Poland 2004	Remember I Am With You Terezín, Czech Republic 2003