'French Children of the Holocaust'
Simris, Sweden
december 1, 2012 - januari 6, 2013
Gert Germeraad presents new sculptures from a series of portraits of french jewish children that were transported to Auschwitz during the Second World War. The sculptures refer to pictures from the book "French Children of the Holocaust" by Serge Klarsfeld; a book that contains pictures of 2000 of the more then 20.000 jewish children that were deported from Paris. Germeraad interpret these pictures into sculpture in an attempt to get a close emotional relation to the children. The aim is to keep the memory of these children alive by telling their stories of incomprehensible fate. In this artistic interpretation the credibility of the portraits is paramount.
The sculptures are life size, made in ceramics and painted after firing.
Félix Buttler age 17, born in Paris (4th arr.), was deported on convoy 73 of May 15, 1944, which took him to his death in Tallin (Estonia) or Kaunas (Lithuania). He lived in Grenoble (Isère), 1 avenue Guynemer.
Hélène Jaroslaw was born on July 27, 1927, in Warsaw. She had just turned 15 when she was deported on August 3, 1942, on convoy 14. She lived at 25 rue Robespierre in Montreuil, outside of Paris.
Jacques Jakubowicz was born on April 15, 1931, in Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle). Arrested in the UGIF Lamarck-Secrétan children's center, he was deported on July 31, 1944, on convoy 77.
Rosa Farber was born on September 18, 1932, in Paris (6th arr.). Exactly ten years later, she was deported on convoy 34 of September 18, 1942. Her mother had been deported earlier. The family lived at 12 rue des Bernardins in Paris (5th arr.).