Artists Adopt Survivors
Artist’s Statement: Janet Lust Ganes
“Driven by Raw Fear, I Ran”
Through the triptych “Driven by Raw Fear, I Ran” I tell segments of Ethel Bauer Katz’s story, that occurred while she was on the run during the night of March 8, 1944. These painting represent my interpretation of various scenes from that horrible night.
I was born twenty years later. As a child of survivors, I have created artwork inspired by my mother’s family, also from Poland, was fortunate to be able to get out in 1939. Ethel Bauer Katz did not have such an opportunity. Her path out of Poland was arduous and horrific. Ethel’s story of escape made a deep impression on me.
In the left panel, I show Ethel wounded and bloody, when she was left for dead. After being chased from her farm house by Hitler’s accomplices, she received a blow to the head and fell unconscious in the snow.
In the center panel, I painted Ethel running. After regaining consciousness, she was propelled by an inexplicable energy, her will to live.
In the right panel, I have portrayed Ethel collapsed in the snow completely vulnerable. She became paralyzed by fear and exhaustion, nearly frozen, after spotting three moving shapes across the field. Thinking they were her enemies, she braced herself for the worst and prayed for a miracle. Ethel’s rescuers had arrived.
