– There we have it! This is the best. Finding the best light is an art in itself. But here, with the model sitting in the red chair close to the window, it was right. Here, Vebjørn Sand found the light that makes the shapes and expressions come out best on the face in front of him. – I have to look at it like a painting. Now it was absolutely beautiful. Soft and nice light, says Sand. He looks at Edith Notowicz, the woman who has taken her place in the chair. – Is it worth drawing me, she asks. – Yes, it is very worthwhile to draw you, smiles Sand. Vebjørn Sand has met and portrayed many witnesses of the time. Now it is Edith Notowicz’s turn. Photo: Morten Andersen / news Under the hand holding the pencil, two eyes are about to come into being. The face belongs to the last Norwegian survivor from Auschwitz. The lady who turns 94 in March – and who has a story that is difficult to understand. – I could talk for several hours. It wasn’t easy. We were hungry, and we were freezing. And we had lice. It was awful. When there are holidays, I miss mine, she says. The artist starts with sketches and photographs. The finished portrait will be hung in Roseslottet in Oslo. Photo: Morten Andersen / news – Hat is married Notowicz was 15 when she was sent from Hungary to the largest German concentration camp, Auschwitz – the very symbol of the Holocaust. On the platform, she was separated from her family, whom she would never see again. The mother, father and sister were sent straight to the gas chamber. Notowicz has previously said that Josef Mengele, known as the “Angel of Death”, selected her for his experiments. She was forcibly sterilized without anesthesia. After the war, she married a Norwegian and moved to Trondheim. When she is now portrayed and painted for posterity, there is one thing in particular that she wants the young people of today to know. – That they should not hate. Hate is poison. The answer comes in cash. The tears follow. – You hate me because I’m Jewish, or I hate you because you’re Norwegian, she says and shrugs. – What shall I say? We must try to help people and be kind to each other. The “Angel of Death” Josef Mengele selected Notowicz when she came to Auschwitz as a 15-year-old. Photo: Morten Andersen / news Means a lot Vebjørn Sand has worked for several years on the project Roseslottet – an art installation and educational project in Oslo. It aims to tell the story of the occupation of Norway and of the fundamental principles of democracy, the rule of law and humanism which were then put out of force. The portrait of Edith will hang here, in Roseslottet in Oslo. Photo: Sandbox AS Today he has come to Notowicz’s apartment in Trondheim to photograph and make the first sketches. The sum will be the portrait that will be exhibited in the “castle”. – You are holding up wonderfully well, he says. – Thank you. I’m working on the case, I tell you. The conversation between the two goes undeniably well. – I don’t sit down and sigh, I socialise. I have three clubs. We play cards and rummy. I also have a book club and a wine club, says Notowicz. It means a lot to paint the last Norwegian survivor from the concentration camp, both for the artist and the witness himself. Photo: Morten Andersen / news – What does it mean to be painted? – It means a lot that they want a portrait of me who is 94 years old. When I was young and beautiful – no one wanted me. – You are very beautiful now, replies Sand. The artist believes that the finest portraits in art history are of older people. His personal favorite is the portrait of Margaretha de Geer, painted by Rembrandt. – Beauty when it comes to art has no age. It’s about finding the gold in the human soul, and bringing it forward, says Sand. “Damn Jew” Notowicz is clearly moved. She is worried that history will repeat itself. Not many days ago she had a startling experience at the grocery store. – Then there was a young man who said “You damn Jew. Fuck you,’ she says. – I looked at him and said: “Poor you”. – It is outrageous to hear such things, says Sand. Edith Notowicz is afraid that history will repeat itself. Photo: Morten Andersen / news – How important is it to meet Edith and have her painted? – It is important for a collective remembrance of the greatest disaster in human history, which was the Second World War. And the greatest crime was the Holocaust. That is why we work to document victims, time witnesses and resistance fighters who stood up to fight for freedom, says Sand. He describes what happened to Notowicz, among others, as unimaginable – and all the more important to remember. – We have painted people from all over the world, and we exhibit these portraits in Roseslottet as a place where you can reflect and remember. – And maybe avoid another war. Or hate and murder and violence, Notowicz interjects. – Yes, that’s exactly it, Edith. If you don’t learn from history, you have to relive it.
ttn-69
Vebjørn Sand paints Edith Notowicz – the last Norwegian survivor from Auschwitz – news Trøndelag
