WITNESS TO THE HOLOCAUST SCULPTURES | DEVORAH SPERBER

In the Strauss Health Sciences Library, 3rd Floor  

This powerful sculpture series, paired with poignant quotes from The Diary of Anne Frank, explores the artist’s journey of confronting her family’s history during World War II and grappling with her identity as a second-generation survivor.

Images:  Co-existence of Life and Death (1990), 'Till Death Do Us Part (1990), Mother and Child (1989)

Sperber reflects, "Although inner strength and the will to live contributed to personal survival, luck and chance also came into play. And if my father survived by chance, then I too exist by chance."

Made possible by the generous gift from Devorah and Hannah Sperber in memory of Henry Sperber, a Holocaust survivor and an inspiration to all. 

Background

These sculptures debuted with the Anne Frank Exhibit at the Denver Museum of Natural History, Denver in 1991. The sculpture series traveled with the exhibition for over 25 years before arriving at the University of Colorado in 2018 when the collection was donated to the Holocaust, Genocide and Contemporary Bioethics Program. The mission of the program is to promote education, scholarship and community engagement on the lessons of the Holocaust for health care and society.   

The sculpture series represents the process through which the artist came to terms with her family's history during World War II and her questioning of what it means to be a second generation survivor. Sperber wrote, ''Although inner strength and the will to live contributed to personal survival, luck and chance also came into play. And if my father survived by chance, then I too exist by chance.'' 

The eight bronze castings were patinaed to retain the natural qualities found in the original stone sculptures from which they were cast. The sculptures are accompanied by selected quotes from the Diary of Anne Frank, silk screened onto their pedestals. As Holocaust survivors are aging and passing on, the Witness to the Holocaust exhibit poses critical questions. Who will speak for Holocaust survivors after they are gone? Who will take a stand to make "never again" a reality? 

This exhibit is made possible through a generous gift from the artist and her mother, Devorah and Hannah Sperber in memory of Henry Sperber, husband, father and Holocaust survivor who was an inspiration to all.