All of these pieces depict the genocide of the Vilna Jewish community committed by Nazis and Lithuanian collaborators at Ponar, a forest outside of Vilna.
To Consider:
The majority of the pieces in Labkovski's collection of Holocaust art depict Ponar. Why do you think that is the case?
What are the emotions he depicts in his work? How does he use space and color to express emotion? In many of the pieces, he shows only backs or blurred faces, what do you think he is telling us?
What are the emotions he depicts in his work? How does he use space and color to express emotion? In many of the pieces, he shows only backs or blurred faces, what do you think he is telling us?
Background: Genocide at Ponar
Current day, Ponar
Before the Holocaust, Ponar was a picturesque park used for recreation and picnicking. During the 1940 Soviet occupation, the Soviets dug pits for fuel storage. The Nazis used the pits for mass killing.
Lithuanian collaborators called "snatchers" took Jews off the streets, forced them into the back of trucks, drove them to the forests at Ponar, stripped them of their clothes, took them to the edge of pits and shot them. Men, women and children were murdered at Ponar.
Once the ghettos were established, the Nazi Administration in Vilna with local collaborators continued to take Jewish people from the Ghetto to be killed at Ponar in what they called, "aktions".
The majority of the Jews of Vilna were murdered at Ponar.
Lithuanian collaborators called "snatchers" took Jews off the streets, forced them into the back of trucks, drove them to the forests at Ponar, stripped them of their clothes, took them to the edge of pits and shot them. Men, women and children were murdered at Ponar.
Once the ghettos were established, the Nazi Administration in Vilna with local collaborators continued to take Jewish people from the Ghetto to be killed at Ponar in what they called, "aktions".
The majority of the Jews of Vilna were murdered at Ponar.
