The Jewish Museum in Berlin: Part Two

Along with a permanent collection, the Jewish Museum in Berlin has lots of special exhibits.  Today I want to share a bit about one of them.

"Bedřich Fritta. Drawings from the Theresienstadt Ghetto"  is an exhibit of the work of Bedřich Fritta from 1942 to 1944 while he was living in the Theresienstadt ghetto.  The drawings are full of emotion and story and deep sadness.

They speak to me of bleakness.  A life spent with suitcases and the ever present specter of death.  Gaunt faces and big eyes that stare back at you.  Haunting portraits of a terrible existence.

And yet, at the same time that Fritta was creating these drawings, he created colorful cartoon-like imagery for his young son.  He told stories through art that seemed to normalize their existence in the ghetto -- getting on the train was a "fun ride" to somewhere new.  It very much reminded me of the film "Life is Beautiful."  Fritta used art to give his son as normal a childhood as possible.  His son survived the Holocaust.  Fritta did not.

This post-it was left on the wall of one of the exhibitions.

I cried when I read it.

Thanks for stopping by.