Artists Adopt Survivors
Artist’s Statement: Christine Freib
"An Understanding Heart"
a series of three dedicated to Irving Roth
I am honored to participate in this Holocaust Resource Center art exhibition that has led me on a very personal journey. When I was 14 years old, I visited Dachau with my classmates. Ever since, I have experienced confusion about my fellow Germans and my responsibility for the unspeakable crimes that took place in my native country.
The beautiful German word “Herzensbildung” is difficult to translate into English. Literally it means “heart education” but the word implies much more, compassion, empathy, forgiveness, truth, humanity, humor, acceptance. When I met Irving Roth, I immediately sensed that he understood my pain and fears and he embraced me full, opeing his heart to me. The German word “Herzensbildung” has resonated for me for some time. I have been looking for a way to show what this wonderful German word means to be through my art. I was deeply moved by the book “Bondi’s Brother” relating his experiences in Buchenwald and Auschwitz. I was touched by the passage in which he tells his brother that if the Nazis made him into soap he would refuse to bubble. This book captures everything Irving Roth represents: humor, kindness, understanding, sympathy, tolerance, acceptance and love. A high cultivated heart which I am most grateful to be able to give homage to.
These pieces consist of many symbolic elements. German insulation squares were used as the base and represent the historical tendency of German’s to close themselves off from the reality of the Holocaust. Encaustic wax was used since wax is a preservative, symbolizing the imperative to preserve our collective memories. I used dissolved soap in conjunction with the wax to refer to the horrific fact that the bodies of the Jews were used to make soap. The old crude brown German paper dates from the Second World War. I had hoped to use beech wood for the frames as Buchenwald means “beech forest” but was unable to obtain it. There are slight traces of Prussian Blue emerging from the wax and course pumice medium. In my research for this work I was fascinated to find that this pigment is an element found in cyanide of which the nerve gas Zyklon B was made. Fifty years after the gassing of millions, the stones and cement of the gas chambers are still showing traces of blue – a living testimony to the dead.