Star of David

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.

Courtesy ofStephanie Comfort ©

New work by Sabina Saad © dealing with the subject of the artists who perished during the Holocaust

Technique: three-dimensional;; acrylic on palette cut from wood, and brushes

Size: 45 X 29 X 10

This Work is meant to be displayed alongside a blank canvas to inspire the viewer to think about the enormous amount of works that we lost because the artists were murdered , or because their works were destroyed by the Nazis.

Concept:

The place for colors in the palette is covered with yellow stars uprooted from their places.

It is noteworthy that the dominant color in most of the works of artists who perished during the Holocaust (with few exceptions) was the black color.

Readers are invited to add in the COMMENTS section names of artists that perished during the Nazi Era

Costa Rica issued in 2010 a new Stamp to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. The stamp shows a large Yellow Badge made from barbed wire that reminds us of the death camps which were surrounded by barbed wire. The background shows stripes that allude to the uniforms of the prisoners in those camps.

The Yellow Badge appears seven times in Jennie Gottschalk’s new work: “Kinder” along with a few Jewish Children’s names out of the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust. The six yellow Badges in the wheels of the train represent the 6 million Jewish Holocaust victims.
Copyright:Jennie Gottschalk 2009

This is the cover of a new book (sixth) by Dr. Martin Kieselstein. Title: Memories of the Horrible Nazi Period.  On the cover there is a cut in the shape of the Yellow Badge, which shows the yellow color of the page underneath it. The book is in Hebrew, English and German. It contains pictures of Bronze works created by Dr. Martin Kieselstein. The book was published in a private edition. To contact Dr. Martin Kieselstein

Email: drpikolo@gmail.com

Tel. 97226407148

Holland issued in 1985 four stamps that mark the 40th year since the end of WWII. This stamp carries the yellow badge with its  'Jude' caption, and another stamp shows a cemetery with Star of David on a headstone. Picture is courtesy of Oded Israeli

Esther Lurie was born in Latvia in 1913 and lived in Israel since 1934. The Nazis caught her while she was in an exhibit in Europe and sent her to Ghetto Kovno, where she documented by her pencils the life of Jews from 1941 until 1944. This is one of her most famous works: The Girl With the Yellow Star. I wrote about is two years ago, when I started collecting yellow badge art, and now, eventually, I publish this work of art courtesy of pictorial history postcard collector Stephanie Comfort.  

Size: 40X14X14 cm

Wood box, spring, wood Yellow Badge and acrylic paintings.

Anti-Semitism is hiding usually until it bursts unpredictably. Like demons that were hiding in a box. The Yellow Badge is bigger than the box so that once it’s out there’s no way to put it back. On the sides of the box are painted the flags of Italy, France, Germany, Poland and Holland. There wasn’t enough space for the flags of the other Anti-Semitic countries…

Copyright: Sabina Saad 2008