The portraits of seven Holocaust survivors have been commissioned by the Prince of Wales to go on display at Buckingham Palace.
Seven artists selected by The Prince will be seen painting the survivors in a BBC Two documentary. Called Survivors: Portraits of the Holocaust, the film will show the seven subjects sharing the stories of their experiences as they are painted by the artists and is set to be broadcast on Holocaust Memorial Day, Friday 27 January, which is also when the exhibition opens in the Queen’s Gallery at the Palace.
The Prince of Wales, who is a patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said: “As the number of Holocaust survivors sadly, but inevitably, declines, my abiding hope is that this special collection will act as a further guiding light for our society, reminding us not only of history’s darkest days, but of humanity’s interconnectedness as we strive to create a better world for our children, grandchildren and generations as yet unborn; one where hope is victorious over despair and love triumphs over hate.”
The survivors include Manfred Goldberg, who was deported by train from Germany to the Riga Ghetto in Latvia in December 1941. Mr Goldberg was born on 21 April 1930 in Kassel in central Germany into an Orthodox Jewish family. His father managed to escape to Britain in August 1939, just days before the war began, but the rest of the family were unable to join him. The grandfather from London is being painted by Clara Drummond.
He has described the lack of food in the ghetto and use of slave labour and constant fear. During his time there Nazis and their Latvian collaborators regularly selected inmates of the ghetto for mass shootings in forests on the edge of the city.
Manfred Goldberg and Zigi Shipper at Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors’ Centre (Picture credit Angel Li and BBC Studios)
Extraordinarily the 92-year-old remembers celebrating his Bar Mitzvah in March 1943. Mr Goldberg told the JC: “When I arrived in this country, a traumatised teenage survivor of the Holocaust, I did not dream that I would ever connect with Royalty. I feel honoured beyond words to have been chosen to take part in this remarkable contribution towards ensuring commemoration of the Holocaust, and bless His Royal Highness Prince Charles for initiating this project.”
Helen Aronson
Helen Aronson (credit BBC studios)
Helen Aronson is being painted by Paul Benney. Ms Aronson was twelve years old when the German army arrived at her home. She was one of around only 750 people to be liberated from the Łódź Ghetto, out of 250,000 people sent there.
Lily Ebert
Lily Ebert (credit BBC studios)
Lily Ebert, who recently celebrated her 98th birthday, was 14 when the Nazis deported her from her Hungarian hometown to Auschwitz. She will be painted by Ishbel Myerscough.
Other survivors include Arek Hersh painted by Massimiliano Pironti, who in 2019 was one of four artists shortlisted for the art world’s most prestigious portrait prize. Mr Pironti, who painted his 95-year-old grandmother as “an example of strength, dignity and authority,” was nominated for the BP portrait award.
Arek Hersh
Arek Hersh (credit BBC Studios)
Anita Lasker Wallfisch will be painted by Peter Kuhfeld, who was commissioned by the Prince of Wales in 2012 to paint the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, while Rachel Levy will be painted by Stuart Pearson Wright and Zigi Shipper painted by Jenny Saville. As part of the documentary, viewers will hear the powerful testimonies of the survivors who have all made their lives in Britain.
Karen Pollock CBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust said: “These Holocaust survivors endured the very worst. They were rounded up into ghettos, sent to concentration camps and enslaved as forced labourers.
"To survive the concentration and death camps and 77 years later see their portraits displayed in Buckingham Palace is very special indeed, and a poignant and fitting testament to their lasting contribution to this country. The Nazis intended there to be no Jews left in Europe – instead these survivors are honoured at the heart of British society.”
She added: “The Prince of Wales has long been a true supporter of Holocaust education and remembrance, and we could not be more grateful and indebted to him for the work he continues to do to ensure that the Holocaust holds a central place in British history and memory.”
The Prince of Wales’ grandmother, Princess Alice, protected a Jewish family during the Nazi occupation of Greece and is counted as one of the Righteous Among the Nations.He has described her receiving the honour bestowed by Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial as a source of “immense pride” for him and the royal family.
The documentary will be shown on BBC World News over two episodes on the 12 and 19 February. The seven portraits will become part of the Royal Collection and can be seen in the special display Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace between 27 January and 13 February 2022.
The portraits will then go on display in the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh between 17 March and 6 June 2022.
