Making Memories For Those Who Don't Remember – Holocaust Survivor Portraiture In New Display | Alternative Fruit

Facing death on a daily basis during time spent in Nazi concentration camps, being ordered to pile up dead bodies with those who were sick and dying as a slave, is not something we all remember. Those who do remember it have one thing in common, they don't want it to happen again. Unfortunately there have been more attempted genocides since the 1940s and humans still suffer the brunt of racism and intolerance all over the world. Perhaps at its most extreme, intolerance leads to extermination. Do we forget that these are real people, are they just a strange race of abnormality? Whether it's fear or disgust, these normal human emotions can become blindfolds to our own morality.


Mapping the anthropological story of genocide means that the human cost of the history can be remembered. By understanding the narrative, the qualitative information that enriches the raw data, we can ensure that the personal part of the trauma is not forgotten. In California's USC Fisher Museum of Art, a new painting hangs proudly on one of its many walls. This particular image features a remarkably life-like and rich painting of one Joshua Kaufman. At 91 years old, Josh is one of the few remaining survivors of the Nazi Holocaust.


He remembers the death and the final pleas of those who didn't make it. He has led a life of communication and teaching in order to ensure that those who became victims have their stories told and documented. In partnership with Steven Spielberg's USC Shoah Foundation, which dedicates its time to recording testimonies from attempted genocide survivors and now has over 50,000 of them, this brand new painting is part of “Facing Survival”. The exhibition contains sketches, paintings, a film, and thousands of documents available to read.


Aimed at shining a true and natural light on the world of hate-crimes, the show wants to help us all learn about the dark side of human passion and its ultimate cost.

Via LA Times
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