else & EDGARD, 2022

In memory of Else, who was born in Elberfeld, Germany to Martha and Meyer Hirsch. Else was married to Edgard Lehman and they were living in Antwerp, most likely recent immigrants fleeing religious persecution in Germany. Belgium was occupied by the Germans in May 1940 and by October they had passed a series of anti-Jewish laws including the seizure of Jewish-owned businesses. Synagogues were pillaged and the chief rabbi’s home was set alight. In 1942 the Nazi-occupation became even more repressive for Jewish people who would have suffered merciless discrimination. Else and Lehman had no choice but to go into hiding. They were caught by the Gestapo in August 1942. Else (Prisoner 121) and Edgard (Prisoner 120) were sent to Mechelen transit camp, before being deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau on 1st September 1942 on Transport VII.

Else was 47 and Edgard 57 when they were murdered in the gas chambers of Birkenau.

Records confirm that there were 282 men, 401 women, 163 boys and 154 girls on Transport VII.

Of the 25,834 deportees from Mechelen, 25,251 reached their destination. Almost 16,000 Jews, mostly women and children, were gassed immediately upon arrival in the gas chambers of Birkenau.

Measurement: 10cm x 10cm x 8.5cm

Process: Hand stitch, digital fabric printing

Materials: Vintage powder compact with map of Germany, textile, silk threads

Exhibited in:

Fabricated? Solo Exhibition, London, England (1 October 2024 - 31 January 2025)

COMMENTS

  • You have a way of making the awful beautiful

  • So much captured in this precious space

  • The things that happened should never be forgotten

  • Beautifully made

  • Precious

  • Beautifully captured

  • Very moving work

  • So small, so powerful

  • So poignant, so awful, but good that you keep reminding us of the atrocities committed, and of the people who were murdered - they were not only victims, they were individuals

  • Your works makes us remember each person individually