Holocaust Icons in Art by Batya Brutin

 

Published in the book

Holocaust Icons in Art: The Warsaw Ghetto Boy and Anne Frank by Batya Brutin, 2020

Fig. 80: Jennifer Gottschalk, Yellow Badge / Warsaw Boy, 2008, digital art, 42 × 59.4 cm. Courtesy

of the artist.

Jennifer Gottschalk, a Jewish artist (b. 1975) born in South Africa and living in

New Zealand, depicted the Warsaw boy in a particularly Jewish manner. In her work

Yellow Badge / Warsaw Boy, created in 2008 (Fig. 80), [44] the dark shadow of the

Warsaw boy and the yellow Star of David on his chest are seen. Above the shadow,

close to the right edge of the work, there is a cut-off yellow Star of David and in it the word Juif (French for “Jew”). On the left side, there is a large yellow Star of David, filling

about two-thirds of the work and in it the word Jude (German for “Jew”). The image of

the boy, the yellow stars, and the background comprised of 1,700 names of Holocaust

victims (to commemorate at least a few of them) of different ages and places, were

taken from Yad Vashem’s victim database. Although the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto

did not wear a yellow Star of David but a white armband with a blue Star of David,

through the image of the Warsaw boy with the prominent yellow Star of David the artist

tried to represent all the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. By means of the full yellow

Star of David with the word Jude and the partial yellow Star of David with the word

Juif, the artist wished to teach us that the Holocaust happened not only in Germany but

in other countries, such as France. Through the partial star in the top right corner that

symbolizes continuity, the artist also conveyed the wide reach of the event.

Gottschalk employed a technique reminiscent of micrography in ancient Hebrew

manuscripts, but instead of words that explain the biblical text while creating shapes

and images, she uses the names of Holocaust victims to create her work.

[44] The initiative to create this work came from Zeev Barkan of Jerusalem, a researcher of the

Star of David and the author of the Star of David Album <a href="http://magendavidalbum.blogspot.co.il/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">magendavidalbum.blogspot.co.il/</a>

(accessed in December 2014), who suggested to the artist that she create the shape of a Star of

David and, employing a digital technique, fill it with names of Holocaust victims. The author’s

correspondence with Jennifer Gottschalk, January 2009.