Artists Adopt Survivors
Artist’s Statement: Marc Josloff
"Ingrid’s Story: A Mixed Media Construction"
One panel portrays Ingrid as a young girl with her mother and father. Neither her Jewish mother nor Catholic father gave any indication to Ingrid that she was Jewish, perhaps to protect her during Hitler’s reign. Ingrid’s father worked as a railroad engineer whose job it was to control the switching of rails. It was this vital job which kept them at home for a short while, but eventually they had to move into hiding as her father was enlisted to fight for the Wehrmacht. He was soon killed in action and Ingrid has always cherished the memory of her father, despite the call into action. Her relationship with her mother was strained and Ingrid regrets that her troubling questions about the strange goings on were never addressed. Nevertheless, Ingrid empathizes with the pathos of her mother’s existence.
Another panel portrays Ingrid hiding in an armoire at the apartment of her stern paternal grandparents who secured her there. Ingrid’s Jewish identity remained unknown to Ingrid herself and was kept a secret. She was raised Catholic and attended Catholic school. In the apartment, Ingrid was told to talk and walk lightly so as not to be heard. Suspicious sounds outside drove her to hiding in the armoire. The alarming sounds of bombs and the horrors of warfare seen through the windows were part of her experience here. Scattered on the floor are postcards and letters which she received and still has to this day. They helped make her life momentarily a little tolerable.
The third panel portrays Jack, Ingrid’s husband, who has shed great warmth and reassurance to Ingrid in her search to discover herself. This photo transparency pictures him reading from the Talmud. To the right of this panel is a page of sheet music from Schubert’s composition “Haiden-Roslein” (Hedge-Roses) for voice. It is one of many songs that Ingrid has enjoyed singing. A love for music and the serenity of gardens have been two personal and meaningful constants throughout her changing life. A cathartic moment in her adult life occurred when she discovered a cherry tree (on the grounds of Temple Isaiah in Great Neck) which was blossoming in two colors – pink and white. She instantly related to it, perceiving the two colors as symbolizing her two conflicting selves, the kindled Jewish self vs. the Catholic self of her youth. If this conflicted tree can be beautiful, she thought, then so can I.
Several years after the defeat of Germany in World War II, Ingrid came to the United States of America with her mother who had to separate in order to find work. It was necessary for Ingrid to live with her aunt, who at last divulged to Ingrid her lost Jewish identity. The transformation was extremely difficult and, at first it did not feel natural. On one occasion, however, during religious services, Ingrid had a spiritual vision of herself as a part of a procession of biblical Jews that included the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. At once she felt naturally integrated with her Jewish faith.
The last panel is the ceiling of the “life cube” and depicts the current Ingrid Elefant as she ponders over a German-to-English translation of an inscription written to her as a child by her father. That inscription is incorporated into the graphics on the top panel of these explanatory notes. Here is Ingrid’s translation:
My Daughter Ingrid
Don’t long for yesterday.
Don’t call back the time that’s vanished.
Live only toward the future.
And never complain about the luck that’s gone.
