The gift of the raspberry

I went to Boston on a rainy day and walked to the Holocaust Memorial.

There I read a quote that really moved me to create. It is:

“Ilse, a childhood friend of mine, once found a raspberry in the concentration camp and carried it in her pocket all day to present to me that night on a leaf. Imagine a world in which your entire possession is one raspberry and you give it to your friend.” – Gerda Weissmann Klein

The sculpture is made from white clay and then bisque fired. I painted it with under glade and the it was fired again.

I constructed the barbed wire from wire. I stabbed my hands with the sharp barbs repeatedly while making it and got blood all over the place, but it seemed like nothing compared to the real suffering that went on during the war. I lived in a catholic orphanage , that was nothing compared to Gerda’s horrible journey. And yet , I feel I have, in a very, very  small way ,shared a few of the same emotions that she did.

Here is a video  about Gerda’s story.

So sad.

This is me at the Memorial. In each tall cube of glass, the numbers of inmates of the concentration camps are inscribed in the glass. Maybe that’s why I hate numbers so much.

June 3, 2011 | Categories: Doll Sculpture Links | Tags: barb wire, clay, concentration camp, forced march, friendship, Gerda Klein, Germany, gift, girl, raspberry, sad, sculpture, war, wire, WWII | Leave a comment