For some of us, a \”problem\” is getting seven presents for Chanukah, not eight. However, 70 years ago, these so-called \”problems\” would have been luxuries for the millions of Jews and other minorities living, and dying, during the Holocaust.
Tante Mina sat on her couch and slowly tore away the wrapping. When the paper fell and she saw the porcelain doll her nieces had molded, painted and dressed for her, her breath caught in her throat and she let out a little gasp. As Tante Mina continued to stare at the doll, Mali, my mother, told her 81-year-old aunt about the next step.
At a time when the world shunned them, an estimated 20,000 Jewish refugees from Russia, Germany, Austria and elsewhere made their way to Shanghai before World War II.
The stench in New York after Sept. 11 reminded Julia Millman of Europe.
Artist Tobi Kahn is obsessed with memories of the Holocaust. His abstract landscapes depict recollections of a haunted time and place he never experienced. Simple shapes conjure rivers and roads that snake through still valleys, serene at first glance, disturbing upon reflection. Mountain peaks thrust from brooding waters, in a palette of muted browns, golds and blues. Almost always, the paintings are devoid of people. \”Sky and water always stay the same,\” Kahn says, \”no matter how well- or ill-behaved we are.\”
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