Object numberM2014/006
Creator Moshe Oved
DescriptionMoshe Oved, Memorial Sculpture, Bronze, circa 1950, memorialising the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. Signed by the artist in Hebrew on the reverse.
Reborn from the ashes of the flames of death, the mythical Phoenix symbolises transformation, death, and rebirth, as well as eternity, strength, and renewal. The phoenix-like backplate metaphorically embraces the six symbolic candles.
Moshe Oved (also known as Morris Goode/Gudak, 1883-1958), poet and master jeweller, was a native of Skepe, Poland, who immigrated to London in 1903. He amassed a collection of ancient jewels and objects and cultivated an admirable and discerning following of clients, including Queen Mary, drawn to his celebrated little shop 'Cameo Corner', behind the British Museum. Moshe Oved was a founding member of the Ben Uri Society in London. He also sculpted a series of Jewish ritual objects alongside designs of his own original jewellery.
The sculpture was donated to the Sydney Jewish Museum by family and friends in honour of Lotte Weiss, on the occasion of her 90th birthday, and in loving memory of her parents and five siblings murdered in the Shoah.
Lotte Weiss (nee Franklova) was born in November 1923 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. In 1939, Slovakia, where Lotte lived, became an independent state and the new government enforced anti-Jewish laws. In 1941, all Jews were forced to live in the Jewish quarter of the city and Lotte's eight-member family squished into a little flat. Rumours began to spread that Jews aged 18-25 would be taken east and soon Lotte and two of her sisters were summoned.
The three girls were taken to Auschwitz where they were shaved, tattooed, and assigned to work digging in a field. Lotte was caught attempting to help her sisters and, three weeks later, was told she was going to a punishment camp. She was photographed and taken to a transport. An SS guard counted the women as they piled into the vehicle. Once 20 were counted, Lotte was told, "You get lost. I haven’t got room for you." She ran back to her barracks and was reunited with her sisters and her cousin Shari, who had just arrived. Shari brought bad news that her mother and two siblings did not survive selection. Her father and brother were also sent to Auschwitz. Her father died 4 days later and her brother spent six weeks in the camp until his death.
At the end of July 1942, Lotte developed a bad headache. She would have been sent to the gas chambers if not for a friend of her mother's, Mimi Senger who worked as a clerk in the hospital and begged for her life. She had meningitis and slowly recovered. Forced to return back to the camp but too weak to work, Lotte searched for her sisters and learned that they were dead. On the point of giving up, Lotte was helped by a former Kapo, Ulla, who secured her easier work in Commando “Canada,” where all the belongings brought by the Jews were taken. Lotte sorted through belongings, separating clothes and valuables. In January 1943, she was moved to an indoor job in the administrative offices of Auschwitz. Because she was working with civilians, she was kept clean and warm for the remaining two years. For Lotte, that job was the difference between life and death.
In January 1945, Auschwitz was evacuated and Lotte was moved through Gross Rosen, Flossenburg, Hainichen and Theresienstadt, where she was liberated on 8 May 1945. Lotte was married in 1947 and the following year left Czechoslovakia to join her brother-in-law in New Zealand. There, she had two sons. Her sons moved to Sydney in 1983 and Lotte joined them in 1986.
Lotte Weiss passed away in Sydney in February 2021.
Reborn from the ashes of the flames of death, the mythical Phoenix symbolises transformation, death, and rebirth, as well as eternity, strength, and renewal. The phoenix-like backplate metaphorically embraces the six symbolic candles.
Moshe Oved (also known as Morris Goode/Gudak, 1883-1958), poet and master jeweller, was a native of Skepe, Poland, who immigrated to London in 1903. He amassed a collection of ancient jewels and objects and cultivated an admirable and discerning following of clients, including Queen Mary, drawn to his celebrated little shop 'Cameo Corner', behind the British Museum. Moshe Oved was a founding member of the Ben Uri Society in London. He also sculpted a series of Jewish ritual objects alongside designs of his own original jewellery.
The sculpture was donated to the Sydney Jewish Museum by family and friends in honour of Lotte Weiss, on the occasion of her 90th birthday, and in loving memory of her parents and five siblings murdered in the Shoah.
Lotte Weiss (nee Franklova) was born in November 1923 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. In 1939, Slovakia, where Lotte lived, became an independent state and the new government enforced anti-Jewish laws. In 1941, all Jews were forced to live in the Jewish quarter of the city and Lotte's eight-member family squished into a little flat. Rumours began to spread that Jews aged 18-25 would be taken east and soon Lotte and two of her sisters were summoned.
The three girls were taken to Auschwitz where they were shaved, tattooed, and assigned to work digging in a field. Lotte was caught attempting to help her sisters and, three weeks later, was told she was going to a punishment camp. She was photographed and taken to a transport. An SS guard counted the women as they piled into the vehicle. Once 20 were counted, Lotte was told, "You get lost. I haven’t got room for you." She ran back to her barracks and was reunited with her sisters and her cousin Shari, who had just arrived. Shari brought bad news that her mother and two siblings did not survive selection. Her father and brother were also sent to Auschwitz. Her father died 4 days later and her brother spent six weeks in the camp until his death.
At the end of July 1942, Lotte developed a bad headache. She would have been sent to the gas chambers if not for a friend of her mother's, Mimi Senger who worked as a clerk in the hospital and begged for her life. She had meningitis and slowly recovered. Forced to return back to the camp but too weak to work, Lotte searched for her sisters and learned that they were dead. On the point of giving up, Lotte was helped by a former Kapo, Ulla, who secured her easier work in Commando “Canada,” where all the belongings brought by the Jews were taken. Lotte sorted through belongings, separating clothes and valuables. In January 1943, she was moved to an indoor job in the administrative offices of Auschwitz. Because she was working with civilians, she was kept clean and warm for the remaining two years. For Lotte, that job was the difference between life and death.
In January 1945, Auschwitz was evacuated and Lotte was moved through Gross Rosen, Flossenburg, Hainichen and Theresienstadt, where she was liberated on 8 May 1945. Lotte was married in 1947 and the following year left Czechoslovakia to join her brother-in-law in New Zealand. There, she had two sons. Her sons moved to Sydney in 1983 and Lotte joined them in 1986.
Lotte Weiss passed away in Sydney in February 2021.
Production date 1950
Subjectmemorials
Object namesculptures
Materialbronze
Dimensions
- width: 340.00 mm
height: 260.00 mm
depth: 100.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs Lotte Weiss