Anat Leviteh Weiner
Drawing as a Gift of a Lifetime: The Girls of Room 28 in the Terezin Ghetto and Their Artwork 1942-1944
2018 | Full access
At the end of World War II, two suitcases containing some 4,500 children’s drawings were found in Terezin ghetto. Of the drawings, about 500 were created by teenage girls who were incarcerated in the Girls Home L410, room 28 between July 1942 to October 1944. This artwork represents the prolific outcome of the mentoring of these children by Friedl Dicker Brandeis, a professional artist who volunteered her artistic skills to the children of Terezin. Dicker Brandeis encouraged freedom of imagination and creativity, enabling her students to connect with their own selves, feelings, hopes, fears, and fantasies during the unusually cruel circumstances of the Holocaust. The artwork provides a unique perspective in understanding the lives of the youth in the ghetto.
The aim of this research is to explore the artwork and the creative process of the girls of room 28 individually and examine how this preserved their sense of individuality and creative freedom, thereby helping them to cope with their harsh reality.
In order to understand the context in which the creative process took place, this thesis is comprised of two sections. The first segment provides historical background and the essence of daily life for adolescents in Terezin. It explains the complexity and value of art in Terezin, the role and impact of Friedl Dicker Brandeis, and explores the life of the girls of room 28. The second section analyzes selected artwork created by the girls of room 28, accompanied by testimonies of five survivors from the room, excerpts from diaries, and essays written by some of the girls who perished, as another powerful way to document history from the perspective of teenagers.
In conclusion, this artwork is the most valid, elucidating, and illuminating evidence of what these girls witnessed and felt. Despite the hardships and challenges, the girls were able to free their spirits, imagine, immerse themselves in creativity, and express their utmost inner feelings and thoughts. This gift enabled them to preserve their sense of individuality, affirm their existence, and allowed them to document their lives. The methods used to analyze the artwork give a new perspective in documenting the lives of youth in Terezin and stands as both an archive augmenting the mounting literature of the Holocaust and a memorial to the 45 girls who perished, leaving behind their drawings as traces of their existence.
Supervisors:
Prof. Hagit Lavsky
Dr. Rachel Perry