Generations After
Auckland Second Generation Group
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Wellington Second Generation GroupEmail at: info@holocaustcentre.org.nz for further information. The Wellington Second Generation Group started in May 2018. Since then it has grown to a membership of over 50 and holds meetings every second month. It was formed for the “Second Generation”, the children of Holocaust survivors, anyone of parents impacted by the Nazi regime during WWII, to get together and talk about the unique set of circumstances of their upbringing. For example, it was typical for our refugee parents never to mention the Holocaust to us and many in the group are only now researching and learning about the horrific events which brought our parents to New Zealand.
October 31st - Nov 12
At the Wellington Jewish Community Centre, 80 Webb St, Wellington, 'Painting from the Holocaust's Barbaric Periphery' - an exhibition by Master of Fine Arts student Michelanne Forster, based on her study of Holocaust representation in painting, and expressing her identity as a member of the Second Generation. Her reflections are as follows. 
Reflections of Painting from the Barbaric Periphery
By Michelanne Forster The Holocaust is, for me, the biggest story in my life. It sits on my shoulder wherever I go. Facts alone can’t represent this impossible blot on humanity. I have a belief, perhaps naive, that artistic expression is a positive way to grapple with the Holocaust’s legacy. In undertaking a Master of Fine Arts degree at Massey University’s College of Creative Arts, I wanted to investigate how the shadow of the Holocaust still falls in this faraway corner of the Pacific. Although I’ve had a long career as an author and playwright, I decided to use painting as my artistic medium. Over the two years of the Master’s programme, I searched for a new language- a visual language- to express my emotions and insights as a member of the second generation. At first, this project was like walking backwards in the dark. But gradually, with the help of my supervisors (both practicing artists), research about Holocaust representation, and many long hours at the easel, I found a language using charcoal, pencil, watercolour, acrylics, and oils. “The Barbaric Periphery’, a term coined by Sidra DeKovan Ezrahi, an Israeli academic who writes about the futility of trying to get to the black centre of the Holocaust, rightly points out, this is a place only survivors understand. But we, of the second and third generations can still contribute and remember from its barbaric periphery- and this is what I set out to do. I approached the Wellington Jewish Community Centre board who kindly agreed to let me show my final exhibition on the premises. Rabbi Ariel Tal opened the exhibition, highlighting the importance of art, and Jeremy Smith, representing Temple Sinai, spoke about the on-going work of Holocaust education. My examiners, Dr. Huhanna Smith, the head of Massey’s School of Art, and Aaron Lister, a curator at Wellington City Gallery, expressed great pleasure in my chosen exhibition space. Many from the second-generation told me, in personal and moving ways, what my research and art meant to them. I was moved that the WJCC board accepted my offer of a large painting of a menorah in honour of my father, Michael C. Forster, who died in September 2021. Dad and his Uncle Ludwig were supported by the Viennese Jewish community in 1934 during a time of great personal upheaval and uncertainty- and now I saw this exhibition as my opportunity to give back. I know that I stand on the edge of an experience I did not have, that I will always look into that abyss and mourn a family I will never know. However, I have learned that art made on that periphery brings companionship, connection, and hope. On May 30th the Wellington Second Generation Group had an afternoon of remembering our parents through their baking. It was a warm and nostalgic afternoon. Each “ baker” brought a cake their parents used to make and talked about the memories evoked.
The photo (left) shows the food we recreated and thoroughly enjoyed eating. The other photo (right) captures our parents generation in 1980. Many thanks to Kathy Kerry for initiating and organising this event. We are collecting the recipes from this event and enquiries about these are welcome. Irene Buxton Coordinator VIDEO: Eva Woodbury shares the story of her fathers remarkable efforts to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. [L'Dor vaDor Public Talk 28 July 2021]
Wladamir Riszko, is believed to have hidden 16 people in a cellar in the Polish city of Przemysl between 1942 and 1944 - including the woman who later became his wife. Efforts are underway to have him recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. |
HCNZ Generations After - Facebook group
Created in October 2014, HCNZ Generations After is a closed Facebook group that provides a forum for Holocaust survivors, their descendants and others impacted by the Holocaust to connect.
If you would like to be added to the group, submit your request to the group's administrator on Facebook: Join HCNZ Generations After group.
If you would like to be added to the group, submit your request to the group's administrator on Facebook: Join HCNZ Generations After group.
