Gela Seksztajn
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Gela Seksztajn (1907–1943; also known as Gele Seckstein) was a Polish artist and
painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
. She is known mostly for her portraits and other paintings hidden within the Ringelblum Archive, in the
Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...
during
the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. The paintings were found after the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and are now held mostly in the archive of the
Jewish Historical Institute The Jewish Historical Institute ( or ''ŻIH''; ), also known as the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute, is a public cultural and research institution in Warsaw, Poland, chiefly dealing with the history of Jews in Poland and Jewish cul ...
, in
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, Poland.


Early life

Gela was born in Warsaw in a working-class family. Her father was a cobbler, and her mother died in 1918. The writer Israel Joshua Singer discovered her talent. Through him she met actor and director Jonas Turkow, who introduced her in turn to the sculptor Henryk Kuna. Thanks to Kuna's help, she received a two-month scholarship to study in the ASP in
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
. Gela paid her benefactors back in the 1930s by drawing their portraits. Gela spent about 13 years in Kraków; according to her own testimony, she studied in the academy for two years, but her name was not recorded in any of the enrollment lists of the school's archives. Starting in 1931, she visited Warsaw regularly to display her work in group exhibitions several times during the 1930s, and she moved to Warsaw in 1937. She was a member of the Association of Jewish Artists, and the Jewish Society of Fine Arts, both in Warsaw. During this period she painted numerous portraits of Jewish figures in Warsaw, mostly intellectuals and writers. Among these portraits are those of Rachel Korn, Baruch Gelman, Simon Horontchik,
Itzik Manger Itzik Manger (30 May 1901, Czernowitz, then Austrian-Hungarian Empire – 21 February 1969, Gedera, Israel; ) was a prominent Yiddish language, Yiddish poet and playwright, a self-proclaimed folk bard, visionary, and 'master tailor' of the writ ...
and Moshe Broderson.Gela Seksztajn, her life and work, by Magdalena Tarnowska. In "Gela Seksztajn - A Jewish Painter in the Warsaw Guetto", Fundacion Alon para Las Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2011


Warsaw years

Gela moved to Warsaw in 1937. She married the journalist Izrael Lichtensztejn in 1938. During those years she worked as a teacher of arts and handicrafts in Jewish schools. During the late 1930s she painted a large number of portraits and scenes. She participated in several exhibitions and received good reviews during these years.


Warsaw Ghetto and Ringelblum archive

Gela and her husband Izrael were forced to move into the
Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...
probably in 1940. Just before the ghetto was sealed off in that year, Gela gave birth to her daughter, Margalit. Gela and Izrael were both active in the ghetto in charity organizations. Gela held drawing classes in the ghetto, and mounted small exhibits of her students' works. She probably participated in making the costumes for a children's show entitled "The Seasons" in 1942. She was awarded a prize, for her work with children, by the
Judenrat A ''Judenrat'' (, ) was an administrative body, established in any zone of German-occupied Europe during World War II, purporting to represent its Jewish community in dealings with the Nazi authorities. The Germans required Jews to form ''J ...
chairman Adam Czerniaków. Gela continued to paint during her ghetto years, drawing portraits such as children in the soup kitchen, her daughter, her husband, and her friends writers. Gela, together with Izrael, actively participated in the Oneg Shabbat enterprise, headed by Dr. Emmanuel Ringelblum, which dealt with secretly documenting Jewish life within the ghetto. In July 1942 German deportations from the ghetto started. Knowing that the end is near, Gela prepared her works for hiding in the secret archive. In the early days of August, Izrael Lichtenstejn her spouse, and two of his students, Dawid Graber and Nachum Grzywacz, hid Gela's paintings, together with other documents, in the archive boxes that he buried in a school cellar on Nowolipki Str. The exact date of Gela's death is unknown, but it is believed she died during the
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany's final effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to the gas chambers of the ...
. Gela left more than 300 paintings. Most of them can be found in the
Jewish Historical Institute The Jewish Historical Institute ( or ''ŻIH''; ), also known as the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute, is a public cultural and research institution in Warsaw, Poland, chiefly dealing with the history of Jews in Poland and Jewish cul ...
, although there are a few paintings also in Washington Holocaust museum and one oil painting in
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...
art section. Gela is mentioned in Izrael Lichtenstejn's will from 1943, cited in
Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include '' The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), '' The Music of Chance'' (1990), ' ...
's book, '' The Invention of Solitude''. He writes there: "I want my wife to be remembered. Gele Seckstein, artist, dozens of works, talented, didn't manage to exhibit, did not show in public. During the three years of war worked among children as educator, teacher, made stage sets, costumes for the children's productions, received awards. Now together with me, we are preparing to receive death..."


References


External links


A subset of the paintings in the Jewish Historical Institute

Page on Gela Seksztajn in Adam Mickiewicz Institute

Link to booklet on Gela Seksztajn. FUNDACIÓN ALON PARA LAS ARTES

The Wills of Israel Lichtenstein and Gele Sekstein
A short video about Seksztajn's life and her art
The essay "Gela in the Playground"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seksztajn, Gela 1907 births 1943 deaths 20th-century Polish painters Painters from Warsaw Jewish Polish artists Jewish painters Polish civilians killed in World War II Polish Jews who died in the Holocaust