All That Remained
N° d'objetM2007/062
TitreAll That Remained
Créateur Elza Pollak (Sculptor)
DescriptionElsa Pollak, All That Remained, Fired clay, Dates of production 1985-1989.
This sculptural installation by Israeli artist and Holocaust survivor Elsa Pollak (1910–2006) depicts a pile of children’s shoes, recalling those left behind by victims in Nazi death camps such as Auschwitz and Majdanek. The terracotta shoes, rendered in earthy tones, serve as a memorial to the approximately 1.5 million children murdered in the Holocaust. Some bear inscriptions of names, including Serena Farkas and Sany Mendelovicz - likely members of Pollak’s family murdered at Auschwitz. One shoe is notably distinguished with silver glitter.
Pollak was born in Markusovce, Slovakia, and deported with her family to Auschwitz in 1944. She survived forced labour in Lenzing, Austria, and a death march from Auschwitz. In 1949, she went to Vienna where she studied art, specializing in ceramics with the sculptor Kurt Goebel. She emigrated to Israel in 1962. Her work consistently addressed Holocaust memory, and in 1991 she received the Sussman Prize for Artists Depicting the Holocaust from Yad Vashem.
'All That Remained' reflects the individuality of each child, expressed through the uniqueness of each sculpted shoe and the shared fate of the Jewish victims, represented in their accumulation as a heap. 'All That Remained' constitutes a dialogue between the anonymity of the collective and the uniqueness of the individual.
This sculptural installation by Israeli artist and Holocaust survivor Elsa Pollak (1910–2006) depicts a pile of children’s shoes, recalling those left behind by victims in Nazi death camps such as Auschwitz and Majdanek. The terracotta shoes, rendered in earthy tones, serve as a memorial to the approximately 1.5 million children murdered in the Holocaust. Some bear inscriptions of names, including Serena Farkas and Sany Mendelovicz - likely members of Pollak’s family murdered at Auschwitz. One shoe is notably distinguished with silver glitter.
Pollak was born in Markusovce, Slovakia, and deported with her family to Auschwitz in 1944. She survived forced labour in Lenzing, Austria, and a death march from Auschwitz. In 1949, she went to Vienna where she studied art, specializing in ceramics with the sculptor Kurt Goebel. She emigrated to Israel in 1962. Her work consistently addressed Holocaust memory, and in 1991 she received the Sussman Prize for Artists Depicting the Holocaust from Yad Vashem.
'All That Remained' reflects the individuality of each child, expressed through the uniqueness of each sculpted shoe and the shared fate of the Jewish victims, represented in their accumulation as a heap. 'All That Remained' constitutes a dialogue between the anonymity of the collective and the uniqueness of the individual.
Nom d'objetsculptures
Dimensions
- depth: 1180.00 mm
width: 1370.00 mm
height: 540.00 mm
Ligne de créditSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs Eva Grunstein