Shine Magazine, Issue 3, April 2010 - Department of Education and ...

School news
Theresienstadt exhibition
at Jewish Museum
It beGAn with a telephone call to the
Jewish Museum of Australia some 20
years ago. An elderly voice said, “I have
something I would like to give to you.”
A visit to the home of the caller was
arranged. She turned out to be a lady in
her 70s. She took the curator into her
spare bedroom and pulled an old suitcase
from under the bed. She unclicked the
latches, raised the lid, and there inside
were paintings – watercolours – over 100
of them!
Regina Schwarz was the custodian of
these pictures that had been painted by
her husband, Paul Schwarz, and a fellow
artist, Leo Lowit, in Theresienstadt
Concentration Camp. Paul and Leo
and their wives were imprisoned in the
infamous camp during much of World
War 2. Paul, Leo, and his wife Jindriska
were transported to the east, and
murdered in Auschwitz. Regina survived
and brought the paintings with her to
Australia.
Now, the Jewish Museum has created an
exhibition specifically for school students
entitled Theresienstadt: Drawn from the
Inside. Works from the Jewish Museum
of Australia Collection, displaying the
Schwarz and Lowit paintings. And
cccording to the museum’s education
coordinator Jenny Better, the exhibition
will also feature other primary sources.
“Students can see original diary entries,
read poems, and and look at other artists’
drawings – all of which will give these
watercolours a context,” Ms Better says.
“Students will be able to evaluate the
sources and use them to put together
information about Theresienstadt and
the lives of the people incarcerated there.
From the camp’s children’s homes, there
are pictures and poetry, each named for
the child that created the piece,” she says.
If the fates of those children are known,
student will learn them, and they can also
watch interviews with child survivors from
Theresienstadt.
“Our aim is for students to draw their own
conclusions: use the evidence to follow the
life of an individual, and to talk to guides,”
Ms Better says.
To book a school group visit, call the Jewish Museum of Australia on 8534 3600.
66 Shine APRIL 2010