E M O R I A27 (12/2019)

THE POWER OF ART:FORBIDDEN ART & THE

NATIONAL LIBERTYMUSEUM

IN PHILADELPHIA

CAPITAL OF TRUST, COOPERATION AND FRIENDSHIP. 10 YEARS OF THE AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU FOUNDATION.

ARTIFACTS FROM JEWISHHERITAGE MUSEUM AT

„AUSCHWITZ”EXHIBITION IN NEW YORK

CITY

DO NOT FORGET YOURNAME. EXHIBITION IN

NUREMBERG

THE ROLE OF CIVILSOCIETY IN DISCLOSING

THE AUSCHWITZPROTOCOLS

MEMORY • HISTORY • EDUCATION

ARTIFACTS FROM JEWISHHERITAGE MUSEUM AT

"AUSCHWITZ" EXHIBITION INNEW YORK CITY

Noa Gutow-Ellis, Andrea Schnelzauer and Treva Walsh

As of mid-November, over 125,000 peoplehave visited Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not faraway. and the Museum has extended theexhibition through August 30, 2020. This levelof visitation offers a newfound visibility forobjects on display, particularly for artifacts inthe Museum of Jewish Heritage collectionwhose provenance dates back to Dr. YaffaEliach’s pioneering work at the Center forHolocaust Studies. The Center for Holocaust Studies, establishedby Dr. Eliach in Brooklyn, New York in 1974 asthe first organization in the United Statesdedicated to the study of the Holocaust,merged with the Museum of Jewish Heritage in1990. The Museum is privileged to hold therich collections of artifacts and testimonysteeped in deep community outreach by Dr.Eliach, a noted scholar, and her team. Dr. Eliachwas one of the first researchers to collecttestimony in the United States. Beginning her work in the 1970s, she recordedthe stories of many survivors who passed away

before the gathering of Holocaust testimonybecame popular in later decades. She savedobjects and stories from older survivors beforeit was too late – before others even beganconceiving of similar projects. One of these objects is a pair of pajamas – anordinary piece of clothing with an extraordinarystory. Anna Warzecha Tenenbaum, a dressmaker fromTomaszów Marzowiecki, was ghettoized withher husband Joseph, a tailor, and their twodaughters, Dorka and Freida. Afterghettoization, Anna and her family weredeported to Blizyn concentration camp. InBlizyn, Dorka was taken from Anna’s armsduring an Aktion and killed, and the family wasseparated when Joseph was transferred toPłaszów concentration camp. Later on, Anna andher remaining daughter Freida were deportedto Auschwitz where they managed to surviveuntil liberation by the Red Army in January1945.

Following its world premiere in Madrid, the groundbreaking exhibition Auschwitz. Notlong ago. Not far away. opened in New York City in May 2019 to critical acclaim: praised

by The New York Times as “illuminat[ing] the topography of evil,” while “alsohighlighting the strenuous struggle for survival.” Produced by the international

exhibition firm Musealia and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland, the showfeatures 700 objects and 400 photographs from over 20 lenders, and from the

collection of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.

Phot

o. M

usse

um o

f Je

wis

h H

erit

age

Phot

o. M

usse

um o

f Je

wis

h H

erit

age

After liberation, Anna found in thewarehouse of the “Kanada” sectionof Birkenau, where the robbedbelongings of the deported andmurdered Jews were collectedbefore being sent to the Reich, afine pair of white, gray, and maroonstriped men’s pajama bottoms.Perhaps she felt attracted to thehigh quality garment due to herformer profession and knowledgeof fabrics. She later told curatorsthat she took them in the hope thatif she had a gift for her husband – asegulah (an amulet) – she wouldfind him and reunite her family.With her surviving daughter Freida,Anna returned to TomaszówMarzowiecki, to the town where sheand Joseph had married and livedbefore the German occupation. Anna spent two years unaware ofJoseph’s fate during the war, andfinally reunited with him in July1945. Joseph, who had beenimprisoned in various camps andwas liberated by American soldiersin a sub-camp of Mauthausen, madehis way on foot over 500 miles backto Tomaszów as well. Anna andJoseph later immigrated with Freidato New York City, where they bothworked in the garment businessand eventually settled in ForestHills, New York. Anna and Joseph Tenenbaum’spajama bottoms are one of thenearly 100 artifacts from theMuseum of Jewish Heritagecollection on display in Auschwitz.Not long ago. Not far away. Thisartifact allows Museum visitors toencounter Auschwitz through thepersonal history it represents. It is these personal histories thatDr. Yaffa Eliach sought to illuminateand that the Museum of JewishHeritage – A Living Memorial to theHolocaust now preserves anddisplays. Dr. Eliach instilled in her

organization the belief in striving to“restore human dignity to thevictims” of the Holocaust. It is thisbelief that guides the Museum ofJewish Heritage – A Living Memorialto the Holocaust in collecting andexhibiting artifacts like Anna andJoseph Tenenbaum’s pajamabottoms. The Museum of Jewish Heritage’scollecting practice focuses ontwentieth century Jewish historyanchored in the Holocaust,concentrating on the time periodsbefore, during, and immediatelyafter the war. Within this scope, thecollection specializes in family andsocial histories. The acquisitionsstaff work to obtain as manyartifacts from a family as possible,so that through a variety of media –objects, documents, photographs –the collection communicates thefullness of each person’s life, andthe various items inform each otherand illuminate the family’s story. To listen to these kinds of objectsand to understand stories of thepeople who once held them sits atthe core of memorial work. Muchhas been said about Auschwitz, andthere is much more yet to say – andto be heard. Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not faraway. is a far-reaching, wide-ranging exhibition that attractedover 600,000 visitors in Madridwhere the exhibition had its worldpremiere, and currently is receivinga record-breaking number ofvisitors at the Museum of JewishHeritage – A Living Memorial to theHolocaust in New York City. Theartifacts added to the New York Citypresentation emphasize stories offamily, of humanity, of the lives ofindividuals tragically cut short orchanged forever at Auschwitz. More: auschwitz.nyc

M E M O R I AMEMORY • HISTORY • EDUCATION

PUBLISHER

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Paweł Sawicki

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Agnieszka Juskowiak-Sawicka

EDITED BY

Bartosz Bartyzel Imogen Dalziel

Marek LachŁukasz Lipiński

CONTACT

memoria@auschwitz.org

POWERED BY JOOMAG

memoria.auschwitz.org