On April 23, 2025, a new group exhibition, titled “Survive, in Order to Create,” will open at the Moshe Castel Museum of Art in Ma’ale Adumim, Israel, bringing together works by eighteen artists – Holocaust survivors, who used art as a unique tool for self-expression and trauma healing. The upcoming event pays tribute not only to the victims of the largest-scale genocide of modern history but also to the survivors of this tragic page in human history.
The Cultural Legacy of the Holocaust in Israel
Israel cherishes the tradition of remembering the Holocaust and paying tribute to all people affected by the inhumane cruelty that the Israeli people suffered on the part of the Nazis. The first law dedicated to Holocaust remembrance, which was set up five years after the foundation of the Israeli state in 1948, led to the establishment of the Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem, followed by several state museums to include the art dedicated to the trauma of the Holocaust in their permanent collections.
Yet, those who survived the Holocaust have received less attention, even though the very fact of their survival is a miracle. “Survive, in Order to Create” aims to shed light on the lives of artists who were supposed to die because of their Jewish origin but survived to tell their stories using art as a reflection of their struggles and traumas. These include Zoltan Perlmutter, David Peretz, Pinchas Shaar, and Shmuel Bak, among other notable artists who stayed true to their Jewish identity no matter what.
The Art of Holocaust Survivors as a Unique Story of Trauma
“Survive, in Order to Create,” which is curated by Dr. Alek Epstein, brings a new perspective to the concept of Holocaust survival by focusing the audience on the continuing struggle with traumatic experiences that many survivors were left with. More than 50 paintings and graphic works will be displayed in two halls of the Moshe Castel Museum of Art to tell the versatile life journeys of Holocaust survivors. The halls are titled “The Destroyed World” and “The Rebirth,” with the first one focusing on the stories of Jewry during and before the Holocaust, and the latter being dedicated to their lives after the genocide.
Fine Art Shippers had the honor of contributing to the exhibition and helping the organizers compile an English-Jewish catalog of exhibited works. Being deeply involved with Israeli activities related to Holocaust commemoration, we try to support Jewish artists in Israel and abroad whenever possible. For example, last year, Fine Art Shippers donated several art pieces by Moshe Castel to the permanent collection of the Moshe Castel Museum of Art and supported the major exhibition by Zeev Kun, an Israeli artist and Holocaust survivor of Hungarian origin. Our team is happy to be part of the Jewish art revival and will make every effort toward its popularization in Israel and across the world.