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Mayer Kirshenblatt

Dec 24, 2024

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY wishing you joyful holidays

2025-01-09T13:35:50-05:00December 24th, 2024|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY wishing you joyful holidays

Dear Friends, We wish you Happy Holidays with Mayer Kirshenblatt's painting Hanukkah, in which he remembers celebrating the holiday with his family in Opatów (Apt) in the 1920s. "This is Hanukkah at home with my father, mother, and brothers. We lit the candles and sang Maoz tsur (Rock of Ages). I painted a few notes to indicate that we were singing. It was a special day for us because we were let out of school early. Father gave me Hanukkah gelt, a few pennies for a present, in honor of the holiday. Mother cooked latkes, potato pancakes, which are very delicious. She grated raw potatoes, added eggs, and flour and fried the pancakes in shmalts, [...]

Jul 4, 2024

Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland Before the Holocaust
Presentation by Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

2024-09-10T15:14:18-04:00July 4th, 2024|, , |Comments Off on Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland Before the Holocaust
Presentation by Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

Lest future generations know more about how Jews died than how they lived, Mayer Kirshenblatt (1916-2009) made it his mission to remember the world of his childhood in images and words. Born in Opatów (Apt in Yiddish), Mayer left for Canada in 1934 at the age of 17. Image above: Mayer Kirshenblatt, Synagogue interior, 1991. Acrylic on canvas. Gift of the Kirshenblatt Family. Taube Family Mayer July Art Collection at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw. He had always told his family stories about growing up in Poland before the Holocaust. After his family begged him to paint what he could remember, Mayer finally picked up his brush in 1989 at the [...]