Archive | 2018/10/08

Czy ktoś rozpozna tego chłopca?

 

Czy ktoś rozpozna tego chłopca?

REDAKCJA


Lolek Erlichster (po prawej) w 1939 roku razem ze swoją mamą. To jego jedyne ocalałe zdjęcie. /Fot. Archiwum rodzinne

W BIEŻĄCYM NUMERZE „CHIDUSZU” (8/2018) PUBLIKUJEMY REPORTAŻ O POSZUKIWANIACH ŻYDOWSKIEGO CHŁOPCA ZAGINIONEGO W 1943 R. LOLEK ERLICHSTER (FAŁSZYWE NAZWISKO Z CZASÓW WOJNY TO MARIUSZ STODOLSKI) TRAFIŁ POD OPIEKĘ SIÓSTR SZARYTEK W WARSZAWIE. OD TEGO MOMENTU JEGO LOSY SĄ NIEZNANE.

Lolek Erlichster urodził się w 1937 r. w Otwocku. Po rozpoczęciu wojny jego rodzicom, Loli i Leonowi Erlichsterom, udało się znaleźć dla niego bezpieczne schronienie w domu państwa Kulińskich w Warszawie. Było to na przełomie 1941 i 1942 roku. Po ucieczce z otwockiego getta rodzice dołączyli do Lolka i przez kilka miesięcy mieszkali razem w innym mieszkaniu w Warszawie. Matka i syn mieli fałszywe papiery na nazwisko Wera i Mariusz Stodolscy i czasami przemieszczali się po mieście. Latem 1943 roku wysiadając z tramwaju, Lolek niefortunnie upadł i koła zmiażdżyły jego nogę. Na miejscu wypadku aresztowano Lolę, ale udało jej się wyjść dzięki łapówce. Lolek trafił do Szpitala Dziecięcego przy Kopernika, gdzie amputowano mu nogę. Stamtąd zabrały go siostry szarytki z klasztoru na Tamce. Szarytki w czasie wojny ukrywały wiele żydowskich dzieci, jednak prawie zawsze dziewczęta. Dlatego musiały Lolka przekazać dalej. Tu historia chłopca się urywa.

Matka Lolka bezskutecznie – zarówno tuż po wojnie, jak i na początku lat sześćdziesiątych – próbowała dowiedzieć się, co stało się z jej synem. Od sióstr uzyskała informację, że przeżył, ale nie chciały zdradzić, kto go adoptował, ani gdzie mieszka.

Jeśli Lolek żyje, ma dziś 81 lat, inne nazwisko i imię, ale prawdopodobnie pamięta swoich rodziców – w chwili wypadku miał sześć lat. Nie wie, że ma brata, który urodził się w 1944 roku. To właśnie on kontynuuje teraz poszukiwania zmarłej przed dwudziestoma laty matki.

Joe, młodszy brat Lolka, o którego istnieniu Lolek nie ma pojęcia. Do zrobienia zdjęcia zdjął kipę. Może tak łatwiej będzie zauważyć podobieństwo?

W historii poszukiwań Lolka było kilka momentów, kiedy wydawało się pewne, że rodzina już wkrótce się spotka. Matka Lolka otrzymała na przykład zapewnienia o rychłym spotkaniu od zakonnika, który powoływał się na znajomość z kardynałem Wyszyńskim. Była przekonana, że syn żyje, bo tak powiedziała jej jedna z zakonnic, zaangażowanych w ukrywanie żydowskich dzieci w czasie wojny. Zarzekała się jednak, że nie zdradzi miejsca jego pobytu. Dlatego brat Lolka, Joe, uważa, że największą szansę na odnalezienie brata da rozprzestrzenienie informacji o nim – może ktoś skojarzy mężczyznę z amputowaną nogą?

Więcej o poruszającej historii poszukiwań Lolka w bieżącym „Chiduszu”.


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RETROSPECTIVE SHOWCASES THE ART OF CLAIRE WEISSMAN WILKS

RETROSPECTIVE SHOWCASES THE ART OF CLAIRE WEISSMAN WILKS

Barbara Silverstein


An untitled painting from Claire Wilks’s Out of the Cave series.

Claire Weissman Wilks, a Toronto visual artist, exhibited her work in major galleries in Europe, Israel and Mexico. She was lauded by art critics in Italy, Serbia, Sweden, Mexico and Israel, but her one-woman shows did not garner the same level of recognition in Canada, her native country.

Wilks died of leukemia in 2017 at the age of 83, and now a group of art aficionados spearheaded by writer Barry Callaghan, Wilks’ common-law husband of 47 years, and art curator, Christian Bernard Singer, are determined to bring new attention to her artwork in Canada.

“What the Hand Sees,” a retrospective exhibition of Wilks’ work, is running at the Sheldon Rose Gallery until Oct. 13. On view are her monoprints from the “Out of the Cave” series along with sculpture and conte drawings.

On Sept. 30 the  gallery was also the venue for the launch of Claire Wilks What the Hand Sees (Exile Editions). This coffee-table, book, edited by Callaghan, showcases Wilks’ artwork. The book also encompasses biographical details of her life, and contributions about her work by other artists and literary figures.

More than 50 people gathered for the multifaceted launch. Novelist Anne Michaels interviewed Callaghan about Wilks, her art and their life together. Michaels has also written about Wilks’ art, as has poet, David Sobelman. He read from his book, Facets of Eros: The Drawings of Claire Wilks (Exile Editions).

The afternoon also included Janice Kulyk Keefer’s readings from We Left the Camp Singing: The Etty Hillesum Poems and Drawings (Exile Editions) . The book features Kulyk Keefer’s poetry along with drawings by Wilks. These works were inspired by The Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum; The Intimate Journal of a Young Jewish Woman in Holland During the Holocaust Years, 1941-1943. Hillesum died in Auschwitz in 1943.

There was even live  music. Sicilian-inspired music was performed by Juno-Award winning artist, Dominic Mancuso, one of Wilks’ favourite musicians.

Her work did not follow the abstract trajectory of the various contemporary art movements. Her focus was figurative with an emphasis on the human body and all its configurations.

Another from the Out of the Cave series.

Wilks was a master at depicting the body, whether it was the intricate detail of the naked and contorted human forms inspired by Hillesum’s writings or the stark emotion conveyed in the bold forms of the Out of the Cave monoprints.

Through various media – charcoal, tusche lithography, monoprints, clay and bronze – she was able to convey the human emotional experience from love and compassion to loneliness and pain.

She was also known for portraying the eroticism of the human body – male and female.

Wilks, grew up in a Jewish home, but her parents divorced. She contracted tuberculosis in her late teens and spent three years confined to a sanatorium. In 1952, when she was successfully treated with antibiotics and surgical removal of a rib and the infected part of her lung.

She had four children with her first husband, Sydney Weissman. When the couple divorced Wilks found a job at the CBC. She was working in the current affairs department in the early ‘70s when she met Callaghan, then a CBC producer.

He spoke about her 30 years of juggling two careers – current affairs and art. After a day at the CBC, Wilks would retreat to her studio at night and on weekends. Once she retired from the CBC she became a full-time artist.

In addition to Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary, Wilks also had solo exhibitions in New York, Jerusalem, Rome, Venice, Stockholm, Zagreb, and Mexico City.

The exhibition of her monoprints at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice, was a major career milestone, according to Callaghan. He likened the Fondazione to the Guggenheim in terms of the institution’s stature in Northern Italy.

He said Wilks was also the first international artist to be given a major exhibition at the inauguration of the Pinacotcea of the Centro des Artes in Monterrey, Mexico.

“The Mexican governor was there. The Canadian ambassador to Mexico was there,” Callaghan recalled. “I was so pleased. I was ecstatic. This was her moment. I just loved watching it.”

The Sheldon Rose Gallery (1710 Avenue Rd.) is open Tues. to Sat. from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.

An untitled monoprint from 2005.


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Jerusalem project reveals how Jews lived 2,000 years ago

Jerusalem project reveals how Jews lived 2,000 years ago

DANIEL K. EISENBUD


Apart from a replica of the Madaba Map, nine other mosaics will illustrate the stories of people who lived and worked there during Byzantine times.

Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Galant (center) tours the Cardo section of the Jewish QuarterHousing and Construction Minister Yoav Galant (center) tours the Cardo section of the Jewish Quarter on Wednesday morning. Photo By: AVI HAYUN

More than 1,500 years after Jewish life flourished in the Cardo section of the Old City’s Jewish Quarter, renderings of ancient markets mounted on mosaics, discovery of a Byzantine arch and reconstruction of a bombed-out synagogue are breathing new life into the historically rich area.

The Cardo, which stretches north to south from Damascus Gate to David Street, dates to the sixth century CE and is depicted on the Madaba Map, a part of a floor mosaic discovered in 1884 in a Byzantine church in Madaba, Jordan.

The beautification project will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.

The endeavor was initiated several months ago, but it was only made officially public on Wednesday.

The revitalization is being spearheaded by the Company for the Reconstruction and Development of the Jewish Quarter and the Tourism Ministry, with aid from Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin, the Jerusalem Foundation, the Jerusalem Municipality and the Israel Antiquities Authority.

To mark the capital’s half-century milestone, Pini Refael, manager of education and tours for the reconstruction and development company, said it was decided to focus on the area’s historic culture and art.

Apart from a replica of the Madaba Map, nine other mosaics will illustrate the stories of people who lived and worked there during Byzantine times.

“We are going to renew the Cardo by creating special mosaics that are going to show people what life was like here 1,500 years ago,” Refael said, speaking near two recently completed mosaics.

“We’re also going to recreate nine shops to illustrate that time.”

Refael said the shops will match mosaics of ancient jewelry, fabric, fruit, vegetable, animal and ceramics stores that once lined the ancient street.

“All the mosaics will be a replica of this period of life,” he said. “And the shops will only sell things from that time.”

The project commenced three months ago and is scheduled to be completed by mid-2017. The mosaics featured in the Cardo are part of a far more expansive project to build many more mosaics throughout the quarter, Refael said.

Renowned Israeli artist David Harel was present on Wednesday morning, along with Construction Minister Yoav Galant, to reveal the two completed mosaics. The colorful pieces depict ancient fabric and fruit and vegetable shops and are based on Harel’s oil paintings.

Hemeticulously researched the era he would be reproducing and later submitted the paintings to artists at Elon Mossaic, at Kibbutz Elon in the North, to reconstruct them with stones.

“I studied all the academic research from that time and got the exact details,” Harel said, noting that it took five months to complete seven of the nine portraits.

“I make a drawing, and it then takes about six weeks to complete each painting. Then I bring them to Elon Mosaic. I am painting many different shops – from spice, jewelry and food to ceramics – everything as it was 1,500 years ago.”

“I am very proud of this project because it is from our history, and my work will live for thousands of years,” he said.

Galant emphasized the Cardo’s historic importance and said the mosaics – along with a nearby, recently excavated Byzantine arch – will be seen by millions of tourists who walk through the area every year.

“This is a great [opportunity] to show all visitors – tourists, Jews, non-Israelis – what was happening here 2,000 years ago, how Jews lived, how they made their living in this area and to describe the [ancient] open market,” he said.

Galant, a former commander of the IDF’s Southern Command, discussed reconstruction of the nearby Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue, which he called long overdue. The synagogue is now being actively resurrected.

“This synagogue, together with the Hurva Synagogue, were destroyed by the Jordanians in one of the crucial battles in 1948, just days after the establishment of the Jewish state, and it took us another 19 years before we arrived back and recaptured this area,” he said.

“We have to make sure that all the Jewish symbols – all the synagogues, all the Jewish traditions and whatever symbolized Jewish life in Jerusalem – will be emphasized and will be greater than it was.”

“It is very simple,” Galant said.

“We cannot allow, under a free and democratic Israeli state – 50 years after we arrived back to the Jewish Quarter to the Kotel and Jerusalem – that such destruction will remain a scar on the life and prestige of the Jewish Quarter.”

When asked his opinion of last month’s UNRWA vote ignoring Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, Galant expressed palpable dismay.

“Even if you repeat a lie a thousand times, it doesn’t make it true,” he said. “I condemn this effort to try to twist history for political reasons. It won’t work – not on the political side, and definitely not on the historical side.”


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