Ella Libermann-Shiber was liberated from Nazi captivity in May of 1945 near Hamburg, Germany.
On the Edge of the Abyss features her ninety-three drawings which is part of her “post-war”
response to the Holocaust experience, done after liberation and during a period in which she said
that nothing interested her except the urge to draw and to document. She records these images in
reaction to the aftermath of trauma. Like others in the post-war tradition, she drew in order to look
at her past, to reflect, or perhaps, in a visual catharsis, to rid herself of the memories. Looking at the
drawings in this exhibit, viewers will see how the survivor-artist removes herself from the action
and becomes an observer of it.
These photographic reproductions of the sketches that are in the archive of The Ghetto Fighters’
House Museum in Israel represent a nightmarish memory. Many will find the images disturbing.
And though we may wish to ignore or protect ourselves by turning away, it may help to consider
this: As traumatic as the experiences were, revisiting them in a visual medium was not harmful to
Libermann-Shiber, but rather is testament to her to her courage and strength. |
