Holocaust Museum Houston

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2010 Exhibitions

The Book of Memory
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February 2, 2010 through April 25, 2010
Holocaust Museum Houston is proud to collaborate with the Consulate General of Mexico in presenting samples of the work by artist Bela Gold. For several years, Gold's work has been a reflection of the complexity of contemporary culture. Her work is defined by a contrast between beauty and cultural references; in her case, the Holocaust. She puts this conflict on display in all her pieces, which offer evidence of our own ambivalence toward the beauty of artistic expression and the social impact it creates. Gold offers a sample book of the various graphics techniques depicting a variety of metal etchings, photoengraved-intaglio, engraved-intaglio, laser engraving, graphite on stone, silkscreen and graphite drawing on stone, and digital embroidery on cloth. The exhibit is on view in Holocaust Museum Houston's Laurie and Milton Boniuk Resource Center and Library from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The library is closed Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is free.

Bornholmer Str. 19, property owned by the Bielitz Family in Berlin, Germany

Examining Restitution: The Bielitz Collection
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June 3, 2010 through August 31, 2010
In March 1938, Austria was incorporated into the German Reich – an event known as the Anschluss. This meant that all anti-Jewish legislation that existed under Nazi Germany also applied to the Jews of Austria. On Nov. 9-10, 1938, now memorialized as Kristallnacht or the “Night of Broken Glass,” more than 200 synagogues were destroyed, and 7,500 Jewish businesses were looted throughout Germany and Austria. More than 30,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps such as Dachau, Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. The Steiner family escaped the violence of this night, but their heirs would spend the next 60 years trying to win restitution for their lost property. This exhibit of four documents – the accounting balance sheet for the Bornholmer 19 property; a penalty letter to Bielitz in 1939; an award letter for the Lessingstasse 20 property to Lily Bielitz dated 1951 and an award document for the Bornholmer 19 property to Hedi Basch in 1993 documents the complexities of the restitution process after World War II.

2009 Exhibitions

Sarah Wiernicki: Art for My Grandfather
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July 29, 2009 through December 31, 2009
The creative expression of the 18-year-old granddaughter of a non-Jewish Polish partisan and political prisoner is the focus of a new exhibit at Holocaust Museum Houston. Running through Dec. 31, 2009, “Sarah Wiernicki: Art for My Grandfather” is the work of local artist Sarah Wiernicki, who was inspired by her grandfather’s life as a Polish resistance fighter and his subsequent experiences in the death camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Buchenwald-Ohrdruf.

The hands of Atlin Qeleshi holding a snapshot of a Jewish family rescued in Shkoder, Albania. Courtesy, Norman H. Gersh

Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews During the Holocaust
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July 17, 2009 through April 4, 2010
Albania, a European country with a Muslim majority, succeeded where other European nations failed in dealing with Nazi Germany. Almost all Jews living within Albanian borders during the German occupation – those of Albanian origin and refugees alike – were saved. In a five-year project, Colorado-based photographer Norman Gershman set out to collect the names of righteous, non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust. He discovered that some of the names were of Albanian Muslims. He then began a quest to meet and photograph the Albanian rescuers or their descendents. During his interviews, when he asked why they had rescued Jews, the resounding response was “Besa” the code of honor deeply rooted in Albanian culture and incorporated in the faith of Albanian Muslims. As Gershman later would explain, “There was no government conspiracy, no underground railroad, no organized resistance of any kind - only individual Albanians, acting alone, to save the lives of people whose lives were in immediate danger. My portraits of these people, and their stories, are meant to reflect their humanity, their dignity, their religious and moral convictions, and their quiet courage.”

A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People
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August 28, 2009 through March 21, 2010
In the course of his papacy, John Paul II shattered the chain of 2,000 years of painful history between Catholics and Jews. The exhibit draws its name from the pope's 1993 appeal marking the 50th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising: “As Christians and Jews, following the example of the faith of Abraham, we are called to be a blessing to the world. This is the common task awaiting us. It is therefore necessary for us, Christians and Jews, to first be a blessing to one another.” The exhibit, created by Xavier University in Cincinnati, includes photographs, video footage, documents and artifacts recording the extraordinary contributions of Pope John Paul II to relations between the Catholic and Jewish faiths.

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