Memorial to the Jews of Lodz

Artist Statement

The six pieces in this group use pre-World War II Hebrew prayer books and Bibles that I found in a garbage pile next to the only remaining pre-World War II synagogue in Lodz, Poland. The synagogue had been burned in 1987, was being restored in 1989, the time of my visit, and its destroyed artifacts were being discarded. The pile was about seven feet high and soaked from rain. I smuggled a few remnants home. Under Jewish religious law, such holy articles must be buried and prayed over. Although I am a secular Jew, I struggled with that law and my respect for what had been lost. I felt an obligation, however, to preserve what was left of the books, and to try, in my own way, to entomb them with as much reverence as I could.