Page 27 - Holyland Magazine - Catholic Edition 2014
P. 27
As part of the ceremony his family were incarcerated in
commemorating the victims of the ghetto that was established
the Holocaust, Pope Francis in the spring of 1940. Abramek
rekindled the Eternal Flame, was sent to work in a cobbler's
its smoke slowly wafted out workshop; his father Mendel
through an opening at the top served as the manager in a
of the ceiling, and laid a wreath factory for the manufacture
in memory of the six million of paper. When the ghetto
Jewish men, women, and was liquidated in the summer
children who were murdered of 1944, Abramek and his
in the Holocaust. The yellow parents were deported to
and white loral wreath was laid Auschwitz. One day, trying
upon a stone crypt containing to shield his son from the
the ashes of Holocaust victims, backbreaking labor, Mendel
brought to Israel from the hid Abramek in the barracks,
extermination camps, and while he himself departed for
the Pope stood in relective forced labor outside the camp.
contemplation for several Pope Francis greeting Holocaust survivor Sonia Tunik-Geron during his visit to Yad Upon his return, Mendel found
Vashem. Photo: Jorge Novominsky / Yad Vashem
minutes at the edge of the Abramek's bed empty. His
marble slab. In one of the most son had been sent to the gas
emotional moments of the visit, chamber. Abramek and his
the Pope greeted six Holocaust mother, Johet-Gitel, were both
survivors individually, kissing murdered in Auschwitz; Mendel
their hands and with a personal was the family's sole survivor.
word for each, all while their
personal stories of loss and After liberation, Mendel returned
survival were read aloud in the to the family's home in the ghetto
background. and discovered a painting and a
notebook which included eight
A creativity that poems and two satirical skits
refused to die that the talented Abramek had
left behind in the attic. Mendel
Works of teenage later remarried a survivor from
victims serve as a Lodz, Haya Grynfeld, and the
reminder of enduring two moved to Israel in 1956.
hope Abramek's painting was
prominently displayed on the
At the close of the visit, Yad wall in Haya and Mendel's
Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev bedroom, but Mendel, who was
presented Pope Francis with a Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev presents Pope Francis with a replica introverted and withdrawn, never
special memento: a replica of of a painting from the Holocaust period. Photo: Isaac Harari / Yad Vashem told anyone about the notebook
the painting "Prayer," created by illed with Abramek's writings.
Abraham (Abramek) Koplowicz After Mendel and Haya passed
in the Lodz Ghetto when he was away, Mendel's stepson, Eliezer
about 13 years old. (Lolek) Grynfeld discovered the
notebook. Lolek donated the
Abramek was the only child painting and notebook to Yad
The painting depicts a Jewish man praying in traditional Hassidic
of Mendel and Johet-Gitel Vashem to be safeguarded for
Koplowicz who lived in the city About the painting: "Prayer" future generations. Abramek's
of Lodz, Poland. Although a garb and wrapped in a talith (prayer shawl). The 13-year-old artist notebook, along with the story
gifted child, Abramek received alludes to the misery of the ghetto with a number of details: the of this talented boy whose
a mere two years of schooling cracked and peeling paint exposing a brick wall, the distorted dreams were destroyed in the
before the outbreak of World chinks in the wood loor, the quivering lines on the man and crematoria of Auschwitz, was
War II. After the occupation of his talith - all convey a sense of fragility and unstableness. In published, in Hebrew, by Yad
in the center of the composition suggests the inner strength of
Lodz, 13-year-old Abramek and contrast, the upright stature of the igure holding a prayer book Vashem.
On left: Pope Francis during a the pious Jew clinging to his faith during this time of crisis and
moment of silence following the
wreath laying in memory of the During the visit of Pope Francis to Yad Vashem, an excerpt from
six million Jews murdered in the persecution.
Holocaust. Photo: Isaac Harari / Yad Abramek's poem, "Dream," was read aloud. The original drawing
Vashem and notebook are housed at Yad Vashem where they are being 27
kept safe for posterity.
commemorating the victims of the ghetto that was established
the Holocaust, Pope Francis in the spring of 1940. Abramek
rekindled the Eternal Flame, was sent to work in a cobbler's
its smoke slowly wafted out workshop; his father Mendel
through an opening at the top served as the manager in a
of the ceiling, and laid a wreath factory for the manufacture
in memory of the six million of paper. When the ghetto
Jewish men, women, and was liquidated in the summer
children who were murdered of 1944, Abramek and his
in the Holocaust. The yellow parents were deported to
and white loral wreath was laid Auschwitz. One day, trying
upon a stone crypt containing to shield his son from the
the ashes of Holocaust victims, backbreaking labor, Mendel
brought to Israel from the hid Abramek in the barracks,
extermination camps, and while he himself departed for
the Pope stood in relective forced labor outside the camp.
contemplation for several Pope Francis greeting Holocaust survivor Sonia Tunik-Geron during his visit to Yad Upon his return, Mendel found
Vashem. Photo: Jorge Novominsky / Yad Vashem
minutes at the edge of the Abramek's bed empty. His
marble slab. In one of the most son had been sent to the gas
emotional moments of the visit, chamber. Abramek and his
the Pope greeted six Holocaust mother, Johet-Gitel, were both
survivors individually, kissing murdered in Auschwitz; Mendel
their hands and with a personal was the family's sole survivor.
word for each, all while their
personal stories of loss and After liberation, Mendel returned
survival were read aloud in the to the family's home in the ghetto
background. and discovered a painting and a
notebook which included eight
A creativity that poems and two satirical skits
refused to die that the talented Abramek had
left behind in the attic. Mendel
Works of teenage later remarried a survivor from
victims serve as a Lodz, Haya Grynfeld, and the
reminder of enduring two moved to Israel in 1956.
hope Abramek's painting was
prominently displayed on the
At the close of the visit, Yad wall in Haya and Mendel's
Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev bedroom, but Mendel, who was
presented Pope Francis with a Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev presents Pope Francis with a replica introverted and withdrawn, never
special memento: a replica of of a painting from the Holocaust period. Photo: Isaac Harari / Yad Vashem told anyone about the notebook
the painting "Prayer," created by illed with Abramek's writings.
Abraham (Abramek) Koplowicz After Mendel and Haya passed
in the Lodz Ghetto when he was away, Mendel's stepson, Eliezer
about 13 years old. (Lolek) Grynfeld discovered the
notebook. Lolek donated the
Abramek was the only child painting and notebook to Yad
The painting depicts a Jewish man praying in traditional Hassidic
of Mendel and Johet-Gitel Vashem to be safeguarded for
Koplowicz who lived in the city About the painting: "Prayer" future generations. Abramek's
of Lodz, Poland. Although a garb and wrapped in a talith (prayer shawl). The 13-year-old artist notebook, along with the story
gifted child, Abramek received alludes to the misery of the ghetto with a number of details: the of this talented boy whose
a mere two years of schooling cracked and peeling paint exposing a brick wall, the distorted dreams were destroyed in the
before the outbreak of World chinks in the wood loor, the quivering lines on the man and crematoria of Auschwitz, was
War II. After the occupation of his talith - all convey a sense of fragility and unstableness. In published, in Hebrew, by Yad
in the center of the composition suggests the inner strength of
Lodz, 13-year-old Abramek and contrast, the upright stature of the igure holding a prayer book Vashem.
On left: Pope Francis during a the pious Jew clinging to his faith during this time of crisis and
moment of silence following the
wreath laying in memory of the During the visit of Pope Francis to Yad Vashem, an excerpt from
six million Jews murdered in the persecution.
Holocaust. Photo: Isaac Harari / Yad Abramek's poem, "Dream," was read aloud. The original drawing
Vashem and notebook are housed at Yad Vashem where they are being 27
kept safe for posterity.
