They Shall Be Counted: The Theresienstadt Ghetto Art of Erich Lichtblau-Leskly
- “Night Silence in Beth Halutz (Hannover Barracks)”
- “Head Count: Thou Shall be Counted”
- “Back From Delousing: Only a Crazy Person Pays with Ghetto Money”
November 21, 2019 – June 27, 2021
Northern Trust Gallery & The Joseph L. & Emily K. Gidwitz Memorial Foundation Gallery
They Shall Be Counted is a gallery of original paintings and drawings by Erich Lichtblau-Leskly. While imprisoned in Theresienstadt (Terezin) Ghetto, he artistically depicted the daily lives of its residents, poignantly capturing the complications and ironies of ghetto life.
In the spring of 1945, Lichtblau-Leskly cut most of his artwork into pieces. His wife, Elsa Lichtblau, hid the fragmented artwork under the floorboards of the barracks, and Lichtblau-Leskly was able to retrieve it after liberation. While living in Israel during the 1950s and 1960s, he reworked these fragments into larger watercolor illustrations. Both original sketches and reworked illustrations will be on display in the collection.
This exhibition is on loan from Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.
Community Partner: Chicago Toy & Game Group
This exhibition is made possible by support from:
Golder Family Foundation
This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.