Artwork by Survivor Martin Spett
My Sister and I
Bearing only a single suitcase, Martin and Roslyn Spett leave the Tarnow ghetto in 1943. Painted to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the event. This canvas is now held by Y'ad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Israel.
The New Synagogue
Tarnow's "new" synagogue was consecrated on Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz-Joseph's birthday in 1908. The copper dome dominated the city's vista and the inside contained beautiful frescos and murals along with marble columns and floors. The Spett family were members of this congregation. The Nazis set fire to the building which burned for three days, then dynamited the thick stone walls to bring down the dome in November 1939.
The Day the Angels Cried
In this painting, angels look to heaven as they witness the slaughter of countless innocents. The train tracks could represent the means by which more victims were brought to their death.
Deportation to Oblivion
A column of children arrives at the railhead. There German soldiers brutalize both parents and children. The operation is overseen by S.S. officers with their omnipresent lists who direct the victims to the railroad cars that will take them away.
The Hour of Liberation
This painting portrays the Spett family's liberation from a German train on April 13, 1945. In the center is a U.S. tank belonging to the Ninth Army. An American soldier heads towards the Jews while in the right foreground, a German soldier despairs. Y'ad Vashem, the Israeli Memorial of the Holocaust has asked for this canvas.
Rynek - A Marketplace in Tarnow
The building in the center was the city hall, it is crowned by a sixteenth-century fire tower. Now it contains a museum. This idyllic locale was the site of a Nazi "action' against the Jewish population of Tarnow in which over one-thousand men, women and children were slaughtered in June 1942.
The Ashes
Each mound of victims' ashes represents a different concentration camp. A traditional depiction of Death hovers over the six inmates of a camp who represent the six-million Jewish casualties during the Holocaust. On the left foreground is the exhortation: "Remember" in six languages.
The Universal Cry of Injustice and Persecution
In the midst of a hostile and bleak environment, an inmate of a camp cries over the dying body of another victim.
J'accuse
In a parallel to Emile Zola's famous indictment during the Dreyfus Affair, this mother blames God for the death of her child, slaughtered by the Nazis. Although her outward appearance resembles stone, her emotional outburst reveals her true feelings.
The Devil's Dominion
Germans who murdered and oppressed innocents were awarded the Iron Cross of Valor for their actions. The fire and leaking blood from the cross illustrate the cost of such rewards for "bravery."
The Polish Countryside
This painting depicts the railroad tracks leading to the gates of Auschwitz at sunset. Amidst the verdant foliage are the skulls of children and the remnants of yellow patches bearing the word "Jew" in French and German along with white arm bands embossed with a blue star of David.
The Mask of a Survivor
In this clear reference to the tradition of Greek tragedy, survivors of the Holocaust may show a smiling face to the outside world, but behind that every-day mask is the tortured, crying face of a tormented soul. All survivors of the Holocaust bear the burden of their experiences for the rest of their lives.
The Shadow of Tarnow
This depiction of Ulica Wekslarska (The Exchange Street) of Tarnow's Jewish Quarter, in the old section of the city. The shadowy figure of an elderly religious Jew walks down the narrow street leading to Rynek, the town market square, casts a forlorn shadow on an ancient cobblestone street that orthodox Jews no longer trod.
The Hidden Children
The upper stories of the buildings in the distance included attic where Jews were hidden by some righteous Christians. The figures in the foreground resemble stone statues, but they are children who needed to become completely devoid of emotion to avoid betraying either themselves or their protectors.
Rationing Bread in a Barracks
In Bergen-Belsen's special compound (Sonderlager) for foreign citizens, the Germans issued bread daily for the entire barracks housing one-hundred people. A man with a steady had to cut very thin slices of bread which were then weighed on a scale made from two pieces of cardboard, some string and a piece of wood to ensure that nobody was deprived of a single morsel.
A Licking Reward
In Bergen-Belsen's special compound (Sonderlager) for foreign citizens, each day a different person was chosen to clean up the barracks and the outside area. The reward was that the person was allowed to scrape the residue of soup out of the can after the bulk had been ladled out to the prisoners.
A Holocaust Survivor Embraced by Hope
A sick and downtrodden concentration camp survivor is comforted by an angelic representation of Hope.
A House in the Ghetto
The Spett family lived in this building during a deportation. The apartment where the family hid was at the end of the balcony.
The Enamel Bowl
In this painting, two hands grasp the enamel bowl issued to every prisoner. This bowl was a concentration camp inmate's most prized possession because s(he) ate, drank and washed from it; it was even used for laundry.
The Little Survivor
This image is a depiction of Roslyn Spett at her arrival in the United States at age of 13. Although the doll intimates that she maintains her innocence, her expression displays that she is a survivor.
The Wicker Trunk
Roslyn and Martin Spett were carried out Ghetto "B" in Tarnow to Ghetto "A" to reunite the family in July 1942. Their parents told the guards that the trunk contained their family or "heirloom" china.
The Echo of the Tarnow Ghetto
This painting depicts Arthur and Sala Spett in the early days of Nazi occupation when Jews were first compelled to wear white arm bands bearing a blue star of David.
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