Sep 26, 2017
“Jew Praying,” pencil-on-paper drawing by Jewish artist and Holocaust Survivor Bernard Slawik; 1942. x
The date of this work has been estimated to be slightly earlier than the other Slawik drawings. Its style and subject matter are totally different to the other drawings. It seems to deal with life in the ghetto where Jews were still able to practice religion before the slaughter of the 1943 'Aktions' began and the Ghetto was cleared. The old man seems to be lost in prayer. He wears the traditional skull cap, long uncut beard and long tunic of a pious Jew, which was a common sight before the war. Not much information is available regarding this work, and it is possible the work was completed at a latter date from memory.
