Documenting
the Holocaust
1939-1945
Embedded Files
David Labkovski Project Executive Director and the artist's great-niece, Leora Raikin, describes Labkovski's depictions of the Holocaust in Vilna.
The Holocaust in Vilna
The Holocaust in Vilna
Holocaust Audio.m4aPress play for an audio version of the text.
In 1939, Hitler and Stalin signed the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression agreement. This allowed for the Nazis to invade Poland without fear of a German-Soviet war. As part of the agreement, Poland was divided between the Germans and the Soviets. The Red Army occupied Vilna in 1940. One year later, in Operation Barbarossa, the Nazis broke the pact and invaded Soviet territory. German forces entered Vilna in June, 1941.
David Labkovski depicts the testimony of Holocaust survivors from Vilna. His work shares the fate of the Jewish community during the Nazi occupation—a community racialized, ghettoized, and murdered.
Jewish men, women and children murdered at the pits at Ponar by the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing squads) and local collaborators.
Luz, by the Pits.mp4On July 4, 1941 anti-Jewish laws were established in Vilna—including the wearing of the yellow star visible on clothing, the front and the back.
Miranda.mp4
On September 6, 1941, the Jews of Vilna were forced into ghettos. Initially, there were two ghettos in Vilna. Ghetto 1 was for those with work permits. Both ghettos were overcrowded, housing over 40,000 people in just a few blocks.
In October, Ghetto 2 was liquidated. Some of the residents were moved to Ghetto 1, while others were taken to Ponary and murdered.
nitzan.mp4This painting depicts the Spektor Family being forced from their home into the Vilna Ghetto. From the ghetto, they will all be murdered in the killing fields at Ponar.
The final deportation from the Vilna Ghetto.
In 1944, the remaining ghetto was "liquidated". Able bodied residents were deported to labor camps in Latvia and Estonia.
Older people and children were killed—some at Ponar and others deported to Sobibor, a killing center.
aliza deportation painting.mp4Resistance in Vilna
Resistance in Vilna
Resistance Fighters: Abba Kovner (center)
eva.mp4On December 31, 1941, Abba Kovner, one of the resistance leaders, said, "Brothers! Better to fall as free fighters than to live by the mercy of the murderers. Arise! Arise with your last breath!"
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum -https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/abba-kovner
The Plight of Children
The Plight of Children
Children in the ghetto faced unbearable hardships. Many were orphaned, hungry, and afraid. Labkovski captures their tenuous situation in these pieces.
Join the Conversation
Join the Conversation
Notice the children's clothing and bare feet. There is also a lock on the door they are trying to enter. What do you think Labkovski is telling us? Why is the man walking away from the children?
Share your thoughts below.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse