Chaim Goldberg: Sharing History
Arielle Goldberg
The smooth long edges and rough corners of a crisp white piece of paper are something most people do not value. Paper is a common good that is not given much thought when it is crinkled in a ball and thrown across the room. However, this is not how Chaim Goldberg viewed these simple white things — he knew they could be used to educate the world. Throughout his early artistic career, as early as four years old, he did whatever it took to obtain his medium: plain white paper. While sharing his story in a 1995 interview, Goldberg beamed with pride, knowing he had done all he could to further his career from such a young age. Goldberg was born in 1917 in Kazimierz Dolny, a small, predominantly Jewish town in Poland commonly referred to as a shtetl. In the shtetl, Goldberg spent time during his youth working small jobs in order to obtain an income to buy paper.[1]The paper purchased for sketching evolved to watercolor paper, canvases for oil painting, and materials for sculpture.
Early on in Goldberg’s career he met Saul Silberstein, a wealthy man with a great interest in the arts.[2]According to Goldberg, Silberstein left an everlasting mark on his artistic career and life.[3]Silberstein was impressed by Goldberg’s artistic ability the first time he visited Goldberg’s home, which led him to spend both time and money on elevating Goldberg’s talents.[4]He invited people from a variety of schools to view Goldberg’s art. This helped to catapult Goldberg’s career as he was able to bring his paintings to Warsaw, Poland. While visiting Warsaw he met with contacts of Silberstein who were predominantly doctors and lawyers.[5]They were impressed with Goldberg’s artistic ability, and generously paid for his tuition to art school for five years.[6]An important step in each artist’s career is finding their niche. In order to find his own niche, Goldberg spent his early life creating art through a variety of mediums and subjects. He learned that he needed to refine his subject area and have a common thread throughout his art.[7]While attending art school in Paris, Goldberg met Marc Chagall. It was his relationship with Chagall that solidified Goldberg’s artistic subject area. Chagall felt that there was a need for art that shared the connection of Jewish life, shtetls, and tradition. Goldberg’s art showed Chagall that he was the perfect artist to do so.[8]Chagall showed his support of Goldberg’s art by purchasing his full art portfolio which depicted these images; this collection of art was “the only samples of Goldberg’s early work to survive World War II.”9 The confidence and motivation that Chagall gave Goldberg to create art about Jewish life was a pivotal point in Goldberg’s career.
Goldberg went on to expand his portfolio by sharing the horrors of the Holocaust through his art. Goldberg is one of many artists whose art shares the lives of Jewish people leading up to and during the Holocaust. These artists, poets, and writers shared their art in order to provide an insight into their experience, with the ultimate goal of preventing such an event from occurring again. Scholars have examined many artists’ work that is related to the time directly before and during the Holocaust. These scholars have found that this area of art shows both history and tradition. Goldberg’s art successfully preserves history by depicting the traditions and history of the events of the Holocaust, Jewish Polish shtetls, and the Orthodox Ashkenazi Jews living within them. Goldberg’s art gives a representation of Jewish life before the Holocaust and gives a fuller picture of Jewish life that goes beyond trauma. By examining Goldberg’s art, people can begin to understand the lives of those impacted by the Holocaust.
The Preservation of the events of the Holocaust
Goldberg, as well as many other famous artists, was able to use his own accounts and the information he gathered from people to create Holocaust art that shared his experiences with the world. This provided a visual for those who did not experience it firsthand or did not have the artistic talents to express their experiences. The Nazi’s plan and goal for the Holocaust was to “complete [and enforce a] plan for the extermination of the European Jewry.”[9]Hitler and the Nazi Party believed that “Jews’ dangerous qualities were rooted in biology… [and] the inevitable outgrowth of a biological uniqueness that made them less human.”[10]The Nazis, led by Hitler, were instructed to accomplish the goal of exterminating the Jews, and others that they did not classify as part of the superior Aryan race, by facilitating mass murder in concentration camps. Holocaust artists have shared the experience of many Jewish people and others who the Nazis were trying to exterminate.12 It was important for these experiences to be shared via art so that they would be remembered forever.
The History of the Holocaust has been preserved in many ways including poetry, writing, sculptures, and paintings. Art historians have found that through Holocaust art, one can learn about, “the experiences of the exiles… [and] we can learn that there are other ways of feeling, other ways of understanding history, and other ways of using the creative ability for expressive purpose.”13 Art provides insight and a visual snapshot of someone’s life experiences. The Holocaust has been the subject area of many artists, who like writers and poets, use their art to share their life experiences. Holocaust art has an interesting dynamic – some of the pieces aim to use G-d and religion to uplift the horrific events depicted in the art, while others share the events more literally and show the tragedy of the Holocaust.
Art historians have accredited Tibor Jankay with being an influential Holocaust painter; he created an art collection that depicts the atrocities of the time period. Jankay was well-known for relishing in the positives. For this reason, Jankay’s Holocaust art is renowned for its ability to depict the horrors of what occurred during the Holocaust, while also sharing the beauty that surrounded these horrors.[11]Jankay’s Holocaust art was centered around his experiences: his
Cattle Car (figure 1) pencil sketch is an account of the time he spent in a cattle car on the way to Auschwitz.[12]The goal of this piece is to give the viewer an up-close perspective of the uncomfortable and crowded cattle car. The viewer’s understanding of what happened is exacerbated by the faces of horror of those in the cattle car.[13]Jankay’s art uses symbolism for expression.[14]Scholars have found that the symbols that Jankay used throughout his Holocaust art emphasize the connection between Jewish people and G-d. One of the symbols that represent this connection is, “the angel hovering above the ghetto representing nurturing protection.”[15]Jankay’s symbolism of G-d shows the emotions he felt during the Holocaust. However, he is not the only one who had these emotions throughout the Holocaust, which is why his work resonates with many Holocaust survivors. His work serves as a visual representation that survivors can relate to.
The preservation of history and tradition has been done in different ways; similar to art, writing allows the writer to share their experiences through their work. Elie Wiesel is well known for sharing his experiences from the Holocaust in writing. In fact, he is described as being “perhaps the world’s best-known witness to the atrocities of the Holocaust.”[16]Wiesel’s writing is known for depicting and sharing his personal experience in two concentration camps: Auschwitz and Buchenwald. He wrote the well-known Holocaust testimony, La Nuit, which depicts the experience that he and his father had in Auschwitz. Additionally, “Wiesel went on to achieve high visibility as a writer and human rights campaigner, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.”[17]Wiesel is one of the many writers whose focus on the Holocaust has allowed others to form an understanding of the events, as their work depicts the true tragedy and horrific experiences that millions of people went through. There are also many other written formats that people have used to share their experiences in the Holocaust including poetry and diaries. By sharing their accounts in written format, they are preserved and allow for people to continue to learn and understand what occurred during the Holocaust many years later.[18]No matter how the experiences of those in the Holocaust have been preserved, it is important that it has been documented for future generations to learn from.
Holocaust artists bridge a gap between direct experiences and compiling accounts of other victims. Artists such as Josef Harmen used his “paintings to constitute [his] memory and grieve for the loss of [his] family.”[19]This allowed for the mourning and honoring of loved ones, and for their lives to be shared with the world; therefore these paintings help to educate those who did not experience the Holocaust first-hand. Additionally, this form of art shares the Ashkenazi Jewish culture, which defines many Holocaust survivors and memorializes those who were persecuted, tortured, and murdered at the hands of the Nazi Party.[20]The creation of Holocaust art helps people to understand the tragic events of the Holocaust. Harmen used his art to express his experiences as a refugee, allowing others to understand them. Art that shares the “century marked by war, genocide, and dehumanization” provides the world with personal accounts of the tragedies that will last forever.[21]A unique characteristic of Holocaust art is its ability to depict the disruption and torture of an entire group of people.[22]Furthermore, Holocaust artists and their preservation of history “cannot be separated from [the past and their] identification with family, community, tradition and ritual.”[23]There is a strong overlap between Holocaust art and the art that represents the lives and culture of Jewish people leading up to the Holocaust.
Goldberg’s art shows the contrast between the simplicity of life while living in a shtetl and the tragedy of the Holocaust. Goldberg created a collection of Holocaust art that represents the events that occurred and the torture that the Jewish people experienced. Additionally, it represents the hope that people carried with them throughout the Holocaust with G-d’s guidance. Goldberg’s Holocaust collection started chronologically with people who were forced out of their shtetl homes. In his collection, there were pieces of art that represented the emotions of leaving loved ones.[24]Goldberg’s wood sculpture, Farewell (figure 2), depicts a family hugging goodbye at the start of the Holocaust. It embodies the unknown that people faced throughout the Holocaust, specifically when leaving their loved ones; this is shown through the tight embrace of the three figures.[25]Additionally, as many of Goldberg’s pieces incorporate Jewish traditions, the men in the sculpture are wearing yarmulkes, which are head coverings that Orthodox Jewish men wear as a reminder of their connection to G-d.[26]The Farewell sculpture helps to capture the fear that the Jewish people faced as they were forced from their homes; this helps to preserve these emotions for future generations to learn from.
To the Unknown (figure 3) is another piece of Goldberg’s Holocaust collection that represents the start of the Holocaust. This piece depicts people fleeing their homes to an unknown location to escape Nazi invaded Poland.[27]This painting shows just some of the thousands of people who were forced to leave their shtetls. It is notable that in the hurried rush of people fleeing, they were forced to throw some of their belongings into wagons, as shown in the painting. This piece represents the experience of Goldberg’s in-laws in this time period — they brought belongings with them as they fled Warsaw which they used to bribe the border patrol in order to flee Nazi invaded Poland.[28]This painting allows viewers to have an understanding of the beginning of the Holocaust, the effort it took to flee, as well as the disruption of lives, and the uncertainty that followed. Goldberg’s art continued to depict the experiences of Orthodox Ashkenazi Jews as they were forced to leave their homes.
During the Holocaust, the Nazis forced Jewish people from Poland, Russia, and Germany into ghettos, which were created to contain these people in a specific area. Goldberg’s painting, View in the Warsaw Ghetto 1939 (figure 4), shows what it was like on the streets of these ghettos by depicting children, men, and women. [29] The ghetto was a segregated portion of the city, separated by brick walls and surrounded by Nazi and Polish police.33 Through his art, Goldberg was able to depict the lives of the over 400,000 people who were imprisoned in this ghetto, including Goldberg and his family.[30]He created art that depicted the Warsaw Ghetto from his memory, decades after his time there. Goldberg was able to preserve their experiences and express the history that would stem from the Holocaust through View in the Warsaw Ghetto 1939. By creating imagery that shares what the Warsaw Ghetto was like, Goldberg was able to provide the world with a visual representation of this place and was able to give people a greater understanding of the Holocaust.
Goldberg created paintings that specifically focused on the Nazi’s actions prior to the extermination of people in concentration camps. Under the Gun (figure 5) is a sketch that shows a long, dense line of people being led into a building that is understood to be a gas chamber.[31]The reason this painting was titled Under the Gun was because Goldberg illustrated a Nazi soldier standing tall and holding a gun, which mimics the power they held over those in concentration camps.[32]Goldberg’s painting, Gas Chamber (figure 6) shows the horrors that people experienced in the deadly gas chambers.[33]Goldberg drew the people crouched down and weeping, which showed the horrors that they faced leading up to their imminent death.[34]Some people were shown pleading for their lives while being held at gunpoint, which represented their desperation. Although Goldberg was never in a concentration camp himself, he painted them based on what he had heard from others.[35]Goldberg painted Gas Chambers in 1942 while he was a refugee in Siberia. Specifically, as “the news of the mass exterminations began to trickle in by way of radio and newspaper as early as 1941… the artist, shaken to his core by the news, plunged into making a visual of the horrific news he had heard.”[36] Goldberg created his work to express the experience of Jews during the Holocaust, whether someone else’s or his own. In the case of Gas Chambers, he shared the experiences of those who no longer could.
Some of Goldberg’s most iconic pieces that represent the Holocaust are sculptures that show Jewish people escaping the Nazi control and concentration camps. Triumph I (figure 7), part of a collection of Holocaust sculptures, depicts the freedom from the Nazi’s control through the guidance of G-d and the appreciation that Jewish people had for G-d throughout the Holocaust.[37]Triumph I shows multiple figures emerging from the barbed wire of the concentration camps and climbing up towards G-d. Here, G-d is represented here with a Magen David, Star of David, a symbol that is used to represent Jewish identity and symbolize G-d’s protection of the Jews. This sculpture represents the liberation of the Jewish people from Nazi control, an important turning point in this time period. Goldberg’s Holocaust art is a mix of both literal examples of what occurred in the Holocaust, as well as symbolism that provided hope.
Goldberg served in the Polish army during the Holocaust; during this time he was captured by the Nazi Party and held as a prisoner of war. It was there he decided to continue creating art that shared people’s lives before the war. However, directly after the Holocaust, Goldberg spent his time creating art that depicted his experiences and that of others. After he finished, he ultimately returned to his main artistic passion of creating art to share the lives of those who lived in Polish shtetls. This led Goldberg to the major focus of his career, the shtetl he grew up in, Kazimierz Dolny.
The Preservation of Polish shtetls Through Art
The original subject and setting of Goldberg’s artwork became his lifelong passion. He shared his home, Kazimierz Dolny, and childhood with the world through his art. Much of Goldberg’s inspiration for his art before the Holocaust came from those who visited Kazimierz Dolny, many of which stayed in his family’s clapboard house.[38]These people became his “story” and the base for his “characters.” As he grew up, he continued to create “characters” centered around those who were an integral part of life in Kazimierz Dolny.[39]Unfortunately, virtually all of his work from before the war was destroyed. This includes art from his collection, the art he sold, and the work he was commissioned for. Before the Holocaust, Goldberg traveled to Warsaw to create commissioned art for well-known and wealthy residents. Fortunately, “approximately fifty drawings and watercolors survived due to the fact that they were purchased by Chagall… in
1933.”[40]While this art was saved from being destroyed, it is not readily available to the public. However, Goldberg made it his life’s passion to continue making art that shared his beloved hometown with the world. He successfully shared that there was more to know about Eastern European Jews from the early to mid-nineteenth century than just the Holocaust.
Goldberg was not the only artist to represent shtetl life in their art. Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Museum in Israel, curated a collection of art from Polish shtetls dating back to pre-Holocaust Europe. The curators of this collection explain the importance of understanding what it was like to live in a Jewish shtetl. Jewish culture and tradition are strongly tied to shtetls. This is important for understanding Jewish art as many influential Jewish artists were born and grew up in shtetls, and used their art to share their experiences.[41]The curators at Yad Vashem focused their collection on lesser-known artists which highlights the wide variety of people that centered their work around shtetls.46 The work shared in the collection is focused on many different aspects of shtetl life including “the market, professions, women of the shtetl, and Jewish learning… through the eyes of these Jewish artists.”[42]These aspects of shtetl life are key components in Goldberg’s art, which allow him to share Kazimierz Dolny with the world in great detail. This helps to give viewers a complete understanding of what it would have been like to live there. His art preserved a visual history of Kazimierz Dolny, which allowed for the history of those who lived there to be commemorated.
When Goldberg created shtetl art, he included a variety of characters that depict the people of the shtetl. The goal of his art was to share “Kazimierz Dolny shtetl and gather all his characters to live eternally through his art.”[43]Goldberg highlights the variety of professions within a shtetl through his art. Goldberg was surrounded by people with different professions from a young age and based some of his art on his parents’ professions – his father was a cobbler, and his mother was a seamstress. Goldberg titles a group of his works Parents II (figure 8), which was made up of a variety of pieces including etchings, linocuts, engravings, and oil paintings. In these works of art, the viewer sees Goldberg’s parents working.[44]The watercolor painting My Parents (figure 9) is similar to the collection of pieces titled Parents II as it illustrates each of Goldberg’s parents intently focusing on their work, his father repairing a pair of shoes and his mother sewing a garment.[45]This painting was set in Goldberg’s childhood home; in the background is a piece of art hanging on the wall which is actually another one of Goldberg’s pieces. Oftentimes, Goldberg would add small hidden elements to his work, adding himself or his own paintings within different pieces. By showing his parents’ professions, he was able to share his childhood experiences with the world and preserve the experiences of the people in Kazimierz Donly forever. Typically only one person in each shtetl was responsible for holding a specific job, which is commonly seen in Goldberg’s work. Goldberg’s sketch Blacksmith (figure 10) shows the blacksmith at work in the shtetl and specifically highlights the difficulty of the job and its strain on his life through his hunched position.[46]In the background, the shtetl of Kazimierz Dolny is in view. The blacksmith is an integral component of the shtetl, which is why Goldberg decided to include him in his shtetl art. The blacksmith was one of the many people Goldberg took inspiration from as he successfully illuminated the experiences of those living within the shtetl.
Goldberg created the painting, Teacher (figure 11), to represent his childhood education. The Teacher depicts a Rabbi and a student studying from a prayer book.[47]This is reminiscent of Goldberg’s childhood as Goldberg, like most children in the shtetl, attended a school that was taught by a Rabbi. Further, it was Goldberg’s Rabbi that later hired him to create mezuzah covers, small artistic cases which hold a parchment scroll containing blessings for a house. This Rabbi had enough confidence in Goldberg’s artistic ability to hire him, which afforded Goldberg the opportunity to buy art supplies.[48]Because Goldberg was able to buy art supplies, he was able to hone his artistic abilities and continue his passion for preserving Jewish shtetl life. The goal of Goldberg’s art was to immerse the viewer in Kazimierz Dolny so they could understand what it was like to be an Orthodox Jew living in a shtetl during this time period.[49]
Goldberg was known for depicting several of the same “characters” and symbols within his art including the shtetl’s water carrier. The Water Carrier (figure 12) shows a man balancing a stick with two pails of water on his shoulders while moving through the shtetl.[50]He is depicted like this in many of Goldberg’s works. The background of the Water Carrier mimics paintings that focus specifically on the houses in Kazimierz Dolny. Goldberg’s paintings built off one another to create a full representation of his shtetl from the early twentieth century. This is also seen with Shtetl Houses (figure 13), an engraving that shows houses built into a hill.[51]These are the same hills seen in Water Carrier.[52]The water carrier is also a central character in The Shtetl (figure 14), which is showcased in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[53]This piece depicts the same hill of houses that are shown in Goldberg’s other works. This creates an image of what Kazimierz Dolny looked like from the outside.[54]The goal of Goldberg’s art was to share “Kazimierz Dolny shtetl and gather all his characters to live eternally through his art.”[55]The Shtetl depicts many figures from the town including his parents, the water carrier, and himself, shown painting on an easel. This painting preserves people in Kazimierz Dolny who observed the traditions of Orthodox Ashkenazi Jews. The Shtetl serves as a culmination of all the events and people within Kazimierz Dolny. Through his art, Goldberg created a visual representation of Kazimierz Dolny to be preserved for the world to see.
The population of Kazimierz Dolny was largely comprised of Jewish people, thus they are the primary subject of Goldberg’s art. Judaism is filled with many customs and traditions that were closely followed by the Jewish community in Kazimierz Dolny. These traditions are the connecting thread within all of Goldberg’s art; whether it was the depiction of traditional head coverings for men, events, holidays, or a style of dance. Goldberg has two parallel art pieces, Seven Hasidic Dancers (figure 15) and Hora (figure 16). In these paintings, the viewer can see the Jewish Orthodox tradition of men and women dancing separately. The reason for this tradition is because it “helps to preserve and safeguard a limited and therefore special connection between the genders.”[56]Seven Hasidic Dancers is an ink painting of seven men dancing in a circle connected to one another.[57]The style of dance these men are performing is the Hora. The Hora is a traditional Jewish celebratory dance that is danced on special occasions. Goldberg created a related painting called Hora which shows seven women participating in the same celebratory dance.[58]Viewers of these two paintings are able to look back in time and “witness” the religious practices of the Jewish community in Kazimierz Dolny. Goldberg’s art showed the strong values and traditions of the Jewish people he grew up around. As an artist, Goldberg wanted people who viewed his art to feel as though they were visiting and experiencing the shtetl.
Weddings are a common subject of Goldberg’s art and Jewish practices. Throughout his pieces, there are a variety of religious Jewish symbols that are a common part of weddings. Chuppahs, or canopies, are an integral part of religious Jewish wedding ceremonies. The couple stands under the Chuppah with the Rabbi who is officiating the wedding. It is traditional for the Chuppah to be made out of a man’s prayer shawl, as seen in each of Goldberg’s paintings that feature a wedding. This is shown in The Wedding (figure 17).[59]Goldberg wanted to properly depict Jewish weddings in his art, so he made sure to include many of the Jewish wedding traditions. Many of these paintings have additional aspects that are important to the Jewish religion. Goldberg’s painting, The Wedding (figure 18) from 1962 shows a couple after the ceremony with many members of the town rejoicing and celebrating, which is typical of a Jewish wedding. One of the central aspects of the painting is two boys holding a large loaf of challah, a traditional bread eaten by Jewish people in times of celebration.[60]The cutting of challah is an important component of Jewish weddings; an important person to the couple rips the challah while reciting a blessing. In his art, Goldberg provides his viewers with an understanding of key traditions that occur throughout a Jewish wedding.
As a religious Jewish boy, Goldberg kept the laws of Shabbat and illustrated his experiences throughout his art. Shabbat is an important weekly practice of Jewish life where the Jewish people honor the seventh day of creation with a day of rest. Lighting two Shabbat candles at the beginning of the day of rest is an important ritual performed by Jewish women, as it is used as a way to bring the Sabbath into a home. Goldberg has represented the lighting of candles in many different paintings. His painting, Shabbat Candles (figure 19), depicts a woman setting up the Shabbat candles for her family to light at sundown.[61]In order to properly light Shabbat candles, the woman says a blessing and sweeps her hands over the light, and then brings her hands to her eyes.[62]In the painting Before Dawn (figure 20), the main figure is a woman lighting Shabbat candles. Throughout the background of the painting are other houses with Shabbat candles glowing in the window; this depicts the important tradition of lighting Shabbat candles in each home.[63]The woman is shown sweeping her hands over the light; this helps to teach viewers about the Shabbat traditions of Orthodox Jews. Additionally, it is traditional for Orthodox Jews to attend religious services at a temple on Shabbat. While both men and women attended, it was more common for only the men to go. This is depicted in the painting Before Dawn where the men of the shtetl are seen walking to the temple along a cobblestone path of Kazimierz Dolny.[64]Goldberg’s Shabbat-related paintings allow the viewer to see the traditions related to the weekly day of rest, including lighting the two candles and walking to the temple. This helps to educate the viewers on the importance of traditions within the Jewish religion.
Jewish holidays and the importance of tradition
Holidays are a large part of the Jewish religion and thus Goldberg has made them an important aspect of his art. Many of his pieces illustrate the important traditions of each holiday. In order to understand the depth that he went through in sharing his religion with the world, it is important to examine Goldberg’s holiday art chronologically according to the Jewish calendar. Rosh Hashanah is the New Year in the Jewish religion and is celebrated with great reverence and joy. Goldberg has shared many important traditions of Rosh Hashanah through his art. During Rosh Hashanah, there is an important tradition called Tashlich, which is depicted in his painting Tashlich (figure 21). Tashlich, a tradition where people go to the water to empty their pockets, is performed on either the first or second day of Rosh Hashanah.[65]This practice is symbolic of the discarding of one’s sins from their life. By depicting this aspect of Rosh Hashanah, Goldberg is capturing the traditions of Orthodox Jews during the Jewish New Year.
Another important aspect of Rosh Hashanah that Goldberg depicts in his artwork is the blowing of the shofar, a ram’s horn.[66]In order to show the proper use of the shofar, Goldberg created The Shofar (figure 22) which occurs in a temple, a house of worship.[67]The shofar is blown by the Rabbi during the prayer services on Rosh Hashanah to serve as a wake-up call and a fresh start to the new year. Only Orthodox men are illustrated, as men and women were not allowed to daven, or pray, together.[68]This is because when davening there should be no distractions between a person and their connection to G-d. The Shofar takes place in the lower level of the sanctuary where the men prayed. The blowing of the Shofar shows how the traditions of Orthodox Jews have been depicted throughout Goldberg’s art.
Yom Kippur, a day of repentance, is arguably the most important Jewish holiday, thus it is an important aspect of Goldberg’s art. A specific tradition of Yom Kippur is Kaparot which takes place the night before and is centered around transferring one’s sins to a rooster.74 Rooster Blessing (figure 23), depicts “the village inhabitants standing in line at the Shochet, or kosher butcher, with their holiday poultry.”75 Each village member in the painting is carrying their own chicken to participate in this tradition.76 Yom Kippur (figure 24) shares the next step of Kaparot; a person swings a rooster over their head while reciting a prayer that symbolically transfers their sins to the rooster. This painting shows a religious man holding a rooster by its legs while moving it around his head as he takes part in the Orthodox Jewish tradition of Kaparot. The rooster looks angry and thus has symbolically taken on the sins of the man.77 This is the traditional start of Yom Kippur and the removal and penance of one’s sins, which is an important aspect of observing Yom Kippur as an Orthodox Jew. Goldberg felt that it was important to share the traditions of Yom Kippur in his art as it is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
In order to preserve the traditions of the holiday of Sukkot, Goldberg created multiple paintings of this holiday. Sukkot occurs five days after Yom Kippur and is symbolic of the forty-year period in which the Jews escaped slavery in Egypt and spent time in the desert on the way to Israel.[69]An important part of this holiday is the shaking of the lulav, a collection of four different leaves, and the etrog, a citrus fruit.[70]They are held together each day of Sukkot and shaken while reciting a prayer. Goldberg represents the important tradition of shaking these two objects in the painting, Sukkot (figure 25). In the painting, a religious man is holding the two items while looking up to G-d and praying.[71]A similar image is also included in Succoth (figure 26), where behind the religious man shaking the lulav and etrog, are the people of the town davening in the temple. Additionally, there are prayer books that are used in order to ensure that prayers are recited properly.[72]These paintings together allow the viewer to understand important aspects of Sukkot and build a broader understanding of the Jewish religion.
Goldberg valued sharing his religion in his art. In order to do this, he focused strongly on holidays, including Simchat Torah. Simchat Torah is celebrated on the last day of Sukkot. This holiday honors the Jewish people’s love of the Torah, a scroll containing the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures.[73]The festivities for this holiday include men dancing while holding Torahs. For this reason, Goldberg’s paintings depict Simchat Torah with traditional festive dancing. Simchat Torah (figure 27) is a pen and ink piece of art that shows an open Torah being held above a man’s head while he is dancing around.[74]It is customary in Orthodox Jewish tradition that only men hold and read from the Torah and thus, that is how Goldberg depicted the celebration in this painting. In the background of the piece, other Torahs are being held throughout the crowd which is another tradition of the holiday.84 Goldberg’s 1962 oil on canvas painting, Simchat Torah (figure 28), shows the community clapping in celebration.[75]Because of the importance of this holiday, women are present in the temple; however, in order to abide by Orthodox Jewish tradition, the men and women cannot be together in the temple and thus the women are shown in the second-story windows. It also shows the ark, where the Torahs are housed, in the front of the synagogue. During the festivities of Simchat Torah, the Torahs are all taken out of the ark and carried around the temple in seven circles called hakafot.86 Goldberg felt that it was important to show all aspects of the Jewish religion and to always value joyous times and occasions in his art, Simchat Torah being one of them.87
Goldberg shares the family aspect of the holiday of Chanukah in several of his paintings. Chanukah is an eight-day holiday that honors the Jewish people’s success in fighting the Maccabees. Unlike many other holidays, Chanukah is not centered around community festivities, but rather celebrations in the home. A menorah is lit on each of the eight nights of Chanukah in each family’s home. Goldberg shares this tradition in Channuka (figure 29), a wash and ink painting, by showing a family gathered around a credenza with a menorah placed on top. Each day of Chanukah an additional candle is lit.[76]The menorah is an important part of Chanukah because during the time of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, the menorah was lit each night, however, the temple was then destroyed.[77]There was one single jar of oil that remained and it miraculously lasted eight days, which is now commemorated with the eight-day holiday of Chanukah.90 Goldberg honored the miracle of Chanukah with the creation of another Chanukah painting in 1971 also titled Channuka (figure 30). This image once again represents a family coming together to honor the holiday with the lighting of the menorah and the reciting of prayers.[78]Above the family lighting the menorah is a variety of colors and shapes; within this, a menorah and a jug of oil are seen once again, which highlights its importance to the holiday of Chanukah.[79]Celebration with family is an important part of Judaism and is at the core of the Jewish religion; this is the reason that Goldberg centered his paintings around the traditions of Chanukah.
Goldberg focused on Purim in his art, which is a holiday that celebrates the Jewish people’s freedom from Persia. An important part of Purim is the reading of the Megillah, the Book of Esther, which contains the story of Purim. Haman was the man who led the torture of the Jewish people while in Persia, so it is tradition to make noise when he is mentioned during the reading of the Megillah.[80]People will make noise with their feet, hands, and most commonly, with a gragger, or noise maker. Graggers are a key component of Goldberg’s Purim art. Purim Parade (figure 31) shows the joyous celebration of Purim. A man is riding on a horse with a large gragger, sharing in the celebration of the freedom of the Jewish people.[81]Additionally, throughout the rest of the painting, there are people holding graggers.[82]In the distance of the piece, one can see Goldberg’s “parents stand[ing] on the left, as his youngest brother Israel waves the gragger.”[83]Another of Goldberg’s pieces portraying Purim, Chaim’s Large Gregor (figure 32), depicts a large gragger in the center of the shtetl. In this watercolor, Goldberg and another man are at the center of the painting using the larger gragger.[84]This painting continues Goldberg’s common thread of placing his family and or himself in his art. There are also members of the town standing in the background enjoying the celebration of Purim, as is customary in Jewish tradition.[85]Goldberg’s Purim art shares the Jewish tradition of making noise to drown out Haman’s name, as well as the celebratory aspect of the holiday. Furthermore, the traditions depicted in these pieces continue Goldberg’s goal of sharing Orthodox Judaism with the world.[86]
The last chronological Jewish holiday that Goldberg focused on was Passover, an eight-day holiday. One of the most well-known aspects of the holiday is that chametz, or leavened bread, is not eaten and rather matzah, unleavened bread, is consumed. Passover requires very specific preparation, and Goldberg centered some of his Passover art around this.[87]In Burning the Chumetz (figure 33) Goldberg depicts “the boys [and the] shtetl’s Rabbi burning small bundles of Chametz ” which is not kosher for the Passover holiday.[88]An important aspect of Passover is the removal of all Chametz from the homes of Orthodox Jews. Another important step in the preparation for Passover is the making of matzah, which is shown in Matzah Making (figure 34). This oil painting represents the women of Kazimierz Dolny helping the baker of the shtetl make matzah.[89]Further, Goldberg shares his childhood experience as he is in the forefront of the painting helping the baker create the dough used to make matzah.103 These two paintings represent the work that it took to prepare for Passover and the important traditions of burning the chametz and making the matzah. These are important aspects of Passover for Orthodox Jews that Goldberg brought to life in his paintings.
In addition to the preparation for Passover, Goldberg’s art also shared the traditional practice of holding a seder, the ceremony for Passover, in one’s home. This is seen in both Family Seder (figure 35) and After the Seder (figure 36). Family Seder shows a family gathered around a table sharing a meal while holding glasses of wine.[90]Wine is a customary aspect of the Passover Seder because, throughout the steps of the service, each person is prompted to drink four glasses of wine. Passover is another holiday that is centered around gatherings in family homes, which explains the setting of both of these paintings. After the Seder shares the joyous celebration of the family at the conclusion of the holiday meal; specifically, it shares Goldberg’s sisters dancing.[91]Goldberg shared that his “sisters would simply get up and dance in their house-nighties, just like” in After the Seder.[92]Goldberg believed it was important to share the happiness of celebrating holidays in a shtetl.[93]In his holiday art, Goldberg captures Orthodox Jewish traditions for the viewer to learn from. Goldberg’s art resonates with Jews who lived in shtetls because of how he depicts the traditions of each Jewish holiday.
Through Goldberg’s art, the viewer is able to gain an understanding of the many important traditions of Jewish holidays. Throughout his career, Goldberg continued to create art centered around holidays as he felt that it was an essential aspect to understanding the lives of those who lived in a shtetl.[94]The history of those who lived in shtetls, specifically during the early twentieth century, is not to be lost in the trauma that was experienced throughout the Holocaust. This is not to take away from the experiences of those in the Holocaust, but rather to highlight the lives and religious practices of Jews prior to the tragedy. This was at the forefront of Goldberg’s artistic works as he created his shtetl art to share his beloved community of Kazimierz Dolny with the world.[95]Thus, he was able to preserve his early life and childhood in the art that outlived him.
Goldberg’s art was successful in the preservation of early twentieth-century Jewish shtetls and allows viewers to understand what it was like to live in Kazimierz Dolny. Goldberg was able to preserve his own family history, the history of Kazimierz Dolny, and the history of Orthodox Ashkenazi Jews before and after the Holocaust. Goldberg’s ability to preserve the history of his shtetl is in line with other shtetl artists. It is through the collections of these artists that modern historians are able to build a picture of what life was like during pre-Holocaust Europe. Goldberg centered his art mainly around shtetl life which proved that there was more to the Jewish European experience than the Holocaust. As seen with other Holocaust artists and writers such as Tibor Jansky and Elie Wiesel, Goldberg’s art preserves the events, and thus the history, of the Holocaust and the time period in which they were alive. Goldberg’s art has lived on beyond his death and will continue to serve as a representation of those who lived in the shtetls of early twentieth-century Poland.
Bringing art to modern-day history classrooms
Art cultivates a climate of creativity for all students to access when it becomes a part of general education classes. Art is a frequently unused tool within history secondary education classrooms, however, it should not be. By exploring art as a component of history classes, we can explore the often untold elements of history. This is true with Chaim Goldberg’s artwork. As an artist who frequently depicted Jewish shtetl life and the Holocaust, his art allows access to personal accounts and experiences of European Jewish people in the early to mid-twentieth century. Art allows for history to be told in another format; in the classroom, we are able to explore someone’s life. In this case, it is Goldberg’s life we are able to learn about through the exploration of his art. Like writers, art in many circumstances builds off of itself; this is true with Goldberg. When exploring his art collection, the viewer is able to see how he threads details through many paintings. This is seen with many of the repetitive fixtures and people in his shtetl artwork, which leads the viewer to understand that these people are not only important fixtures in Goldberg’s life, but in all shtetl life. An example of an important fixture in general shtetl life is the water carrier, who is depicted throughout many of Goldberg’s paintings. Furthermore, Goldberg’s parents, who were a cobbler and a seamstress, were depicted throughout many of his pieces. This is done to show that these jobs were important elements in Goldberg’s life, and also the lives of those raised in a shtetl. By exploring this idea in the classroom, we are able to cultivate an understanding of shtetl life in a way we could not do by just using readings.
By exploring art, we are able to view a snapshot of someone’s life and develop an understanding of what the different elements of people’s life actually look like. This is seen when exploring the traditional Jewish elements that Goldberg depicted in his art. He depicts Kaparot which is a traditional Jewish custom of transforming one’s sins to a chicken or rooster and killing said animal as part of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. By viewing traditions like this we are able to pull back the curtain and help students to understand and explore these traditions more deeply. This allows students to develop a better understanding of others and helps to prevent an environment of misunderstanding and othering which can occur when exploring sacred traditions, especially those that are viewed negatively in today’s society.
Goldberg created his art to share his experiences and his life with the world. By incorporating art like Goldberg’s into the classroom, we are not only helping to fulfill the dreams of artists like Goldberg, but we are also making history more accessible and understandable.
Often as educators, especially history educators, we try to figure out how to share history with our students in a way that allows them to picture and develop an understanding of day-to-day life. Art allows for this and brings history to our modern-day students. It provides students with a window into the past in order to guide and build their understanding. Not all artwork is a direct image that helps us picture a historical event; however, it is often the images that do not depict a direct explanation of what the world looked like that helps to describe the emotions of the people during that time. This is seen with some of Goldberg’s Holocaust artwork which shows people fighting to escape and shows the Jewish religion as something to fight for and work towards. Without art in our history classrooms, we are simply telling students about the past, rather than providing them with images to help them imagine what the world actually looked like. Once art is presented to students they can then further analyze and understand history. If it were not for artists like Goldberg, as well as many others would have a hard time understanding the history of Jewish Europeans living in shtetls, traditional Jewish rituals, and the atrocities of the Holocaust.
References
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[1] Chaim Goldberg, interview by, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, USC Shoah Foundation Institute Testimony, May 16, 1995, 6:24.
[2] Goldberg, USC, 6:52.
[3] Goldberg, USC, 7:20.
[4] Richard Allan Victor, The Holocaust and the Covenant in Art: Chaim Goldberg, Tibor Jankay, and Mauricio Lasansky, (Michigan: UMI Microform, 1998), 7.
[5] Goldberg, USC, 7:45.
[6] Goldberg, USC, 8:50.
[7] Goldberg, USC, 30:22.
[8] Goldberg, USC, 1:22:40. 9 Victor., 17.
[9] Christian Gerlach, “The Wannsee Conference, the Fate of German Jews, and Hitler’s Decision in Principle to Exterminate All European Jews,” The Journal of Modern History 70, no. 4 (1998): 759.
[10] Dan McMillian, How Could This Happen: Explaining the Holocaust, (New York: Basic Books, 2014), 3. 12 Phyllis Lassner, “The Art of Lamentation: Josef Herman’s Humanist Expressionism,” Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 37, no.3 (Winter 2019), 171-172. 13 Lassner., 172.
[11] Victor., 23.
[12] Tibor Jankay, Cattle Car, Pencil, Tibor Jankay 1899-1994.
[13] Victor., 24.
[14] Victor., 25.
[15] Victor., 24.
[16] Colin David, “Elie Wiesel: Witnessing, Telling and Knowing,” Traces of War: Interpreting Ethics and Trauma in Twentieth-Century French Writing, (Liverpool: University Press, 2018), 193.
[17] David., 194.
[18] Victor., 35.
[19] Lassner., 172.
[20] Lassner., 172.
[21] Lassner., 173.
[22] Lassner., 173.
[23] Lassner., 174.
[24] Chaim Goldberg, Farewell, mesquite wood, CHG-Rosco.
[25] Goldberg, Farewell.
[26] “The Kippah (Yarmulke).” Chabad, accessed April 27, 2022, https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3913641/jewish/The-Kippah-Yarmulke.htm.
[27] Chaim Goldberg, To the Unknown, wash and ink, CHG-Rosco.
[28] Goldberg, USC, 140:25.
[29] Chaim Goldberg, View in the Warsaw Ghetto 1939, Pen and Ink. CGH-Rosco. 33 “Warsaw Ghetto,” The Weiner Holocaust Library, accessed March 29, 2022, https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/the-camps/the-warsaw-ghetto-a-case-study/.
“Warsaw Ghetto.”
[30] “Warsaw Ghetto.”
[31] Chaim Goldberg, Under the Gun, ink, UHG-Rosco.
[32] Chaim Goldberg, Under the Gun.
[33] Chaim Goldberg, Gas Chambers, bronze, CHG-Rosco.
[34] Chaim Goldberg, Gas Chambers.
[35] Cynthia Moskowitz Brody, Bittersweet Legacy Creative Response to the Holocaust (Maryland: University Press of America, 2001), 58.
[36] Shalom Goldberg, “Chaim Goldberg From the Old Shtetl of Kazimierz Dolny to the Complex Life in the Biggest City in the USA,” UHG-Rosco, March 20, 2017, http://www.chg-rosco.com/chaim-goldbergs-biography/.
[37] Chaim Goldberg, Triumph 1, sculpture, CHG-Rosco.
[38] Shalom Goldberg, Chaim Goldberg Full Circle: A Journey of 12 Creative Periods & Themes, (Boca Raton: SHIR Art Publications, 1996), 7.
[39] Goldberg, USC, 2:04:50.
[40] Goldberg, Full Circle., 7.
[41] “Representation of the Shtetl in Jewish Art: Between Reality and Fantasy,” Yad Vashem, accessed April 27, 2022, https://www.yadvashem.org/articles/general/shtetl-in-jewish-art.html. 46 “Representation of the Shtetl in Jewish Art.”
[42] “Representation of the Shtetl in Jewish Art.”
[43] Goldberg, Goldberg From the Old Shtetl of Kazimierz Dolny, 3.
[44] Chaim Goldberg, Parents II, engraving, UHG-Rosco.
[45] Chaim, My Parents, 1970, watercolor and ink, Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl.
[46] Chaim Goldberg, Blacksmith, sketch, CHG-Rosco.
[47] Chaim Goldberg, Teacher, watercolor, Artsy.
[48] Goldberg, USC, 15:53.
[49] Goldberg, USC, 1:37:19.
[50] Chaim Goldberg, The Water Carrier, ink, UHG-Rosco.
[51] Chaim Goldberg, Shtetl Houses, sketch, CHG-Rosco.
[52] Chaim Goldberg, Shtetl Houses, sketch, CHG-Rosco.
[53] “Modern and Contemporary Art,” The Met, accessed April 27, 2022, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/480896.
[54] Chaim Goldberg, The Shtetl, line engraving, CHG-Rosco.
[55] Goldberg From the Old Shtetl of Kazimierz Dolny, 3.
[56] Chana Weisberg, “Why are Men and Women separated at Hasidic Weddings.” Chabad, accessed March 27 2022, https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/504534/jewish/Why-are-men-and-women-separated-at-Chassidic-we ddings.htm.
[57] Chaim Goldberg, Seven Hasidic Dancers, sketch, CHG-Rosco.
[58] Chaim Goldberg, Hora, sketch, CHG-Rosco.
[59] Chaim Goldberg, The Wedding, 1997, watercolor and ink, Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl.
[60] Chaim Goldberg, The Wedding, 1962, oil on canvas, Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl.
[61] Chaim Goldberg, Shabbat Candles, 1969, watercolor and ink, Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl.
[62] Chaim Goldberg, Before Dawn, 1993, oil on canvas, Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl.
[63] Goldberg, Before Dawn.
[64] Before Dawn.
[65] Chaim Goldberg, Tashlich. 1998, watercolor and ink, Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl.
[66] Lightstone, “11 Reasons We Blow the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah.”
[67] Mordechai Lightstone, “11 Reasons We Blow the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah,” accessed April 29, 2022, https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2311995/jewish/11-Reasons-Why-We-Blow-the-Shofar-on-Rosh-Has hanah.htm.
[68] Menachem M. Schneerson, “Why Separate Men and Women in the Synagogue,” The Rebbe, accessed March 27, 1961,
[69] Menachem Posner, “What is Sukkot,” Chabad, accessed April 29, 2022, https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4784/jewish/What-Is-Sukkot.htm.
[70] Posner, “What is Sukkot.”
[71] Chaim Goldberg, Sukkot, 1966, watercolor and ink, Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl.
[72] Chaim Goldberg, Succoth, 1971, watercolor and ink, Full Circle: A Journey of 12 Creative Periods & Themes.
[73] “Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah,” Chabad, accessed April 29, 2022, https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4689/jewish/Shemini-Atzeret-Simchat-Torah.htm.
[74] Chaim Goldberg, Simchat Torah, 1969, pen and ink, Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl. 84 Chaim Goldberg, Simchat Torah.
[75] Chaim Goldberg, Simchat Torah, 1962, oil on canvas, Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl. 86 “Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah.” 87 Goldberg, USC, 2:13:10.
[76] Chaim Goldberg, Channuka, 1954, wash and ink, Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl.
[77] “What Is Hanukkah.” Chabad, accessed March 27, 2022,
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/102911/jewish/What-Is-Hanukkah.htm 90 “What is Hanukkah.”
[78] Chaim Goldberg, Channuka, 1971, watercolor and ink, Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl.
[79] Chaim Goldberg, Channuka, 1971.
[80] Yehuda Shurpin, “The Origins of the Gragger: Why We Boo Haman,” Chabad, accessed March 27, 2022, https://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/4321929/jewish/The-Origins-of-the-Gragger-Why-We-BooHaman.htm.
[81] Goldberg, Full Circle., 39.
[82] Chaim Goldberg, Purim Parade, 1993, oil on linen, Full Circle: A Journey of 12 Creative Periods & Themes.
[83] Chaim Goldberg, Purim Parade, 1993.
[84] Chaim Goldberg, Chaim’s Large Gregor, 1970, watercolor and ink, Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl.
[85] Chaim Goldberg, Chaim’s Large Gregor.
[86] Goldberg, USC, 35:50.
[87] Chaim Goldberg, Burning the Chumetz, 1969, oil on linen, Full Circle: A Journey of 12 Creative Periods & Themes.
[88] Goldberg, Full Circle., 41.
[89] Chaim Goldberg, Matzah Making, 1990 oil on linen, Full Circle: A Journey of 12 Creative Periods & Themes. 103 Full Circle., 39.
[90] Chaim Goldberg, Family Seder, 1971, watercolor and ink, Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl.
[91] Goldberg, Chaim, After the Seder, 1990, watercolor and ink. Chaim Goldberg I Remember the Shtetl.
[92] Goldberg, Full Circle., 42.
[93] Goldberg, USC, 10:22.
[94] USC, 50:30.
[95] Chaim Goldberg From the Old Shtetl of Kazimierz Dolny, 22.
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