Academic Corner and Educational Resources

A Call for Papers

Over the past few years it has come to our attention that a number of people are writing papers addressing the works of Moshe Rynecki. From what we can gather, the people who have written about Moshe Rynecki are quite varied. We have heard from college and university students and professors, as well as high school and grade school students. We are thrilled to hear of this development and are eager to share these papers, opinions, and analyses with others. If you have written a paper that in any way addresses the works of Moshe Rynecki, and you would like to share it with us, please email a copy of your paper to elizabeth@rynecki.org

Discussion Questions

We've written a series of discussion questions in reference to Surviving Hitler in Poland: One Jew's Story (written by George Rynecki, Moshe Rynecki's son) and Jewish Life in Poland: The Art of Moshe Rynecki (1881-1943). If you have other disucssion questions that you'd like to see added to ours, please email us at elizabeth@rynecki.org.

Articles, Papers, and Books Addressing Moshe Rynecki and His Body of Work

§         Diary of a Painter, by Marian Trzebinski In November 2005, The Moshe Rynecki Virtual Museum received an email with an attachment. The email note said, "the following text - in Polish language - came across my desk. It tells about young Moshe Rynecki visiting with his father a professional painter in Warsaw (Marian Trzebinski). I haven't found this material on your website and don't know if you are aware about it." We were not aware of it and we were thrilled to receive this document. It is our understanding that the text comes from a book titled "Pamietnik Malarza" written by Marian Trzebinski. It was published in Wroclaw [a city in lower Silesia] in 1958. The pages excerpted and translated here come from pages 170-173 of that book.

§         Perished Jewish Artist of Poland - Second Volume. By Yosef Sandel. [Note: this article was written in Yiddish using the Hebrew alphabet. It was translated by Sheldon Clare at the University of Arizona. The translation has been edited a bit in an effort to make the article more readable.]

·         Zydzi - Polscy. Muzeum Nardowe W Krakowie. Czerwiec - Sierpien 1989. Wystawa Pod Protektoratem Ministra Kultury I Sztuki. Aleksandra Krawczuka. [Loose translation: Polish Jews. National Museum in Krakow. ____ to ____ 1989. Exhibit under the protection of the Ministry of Culture and Art.] Page 81 of the catalog lists 22 paintings included in the exhibit.

·         A book written by Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski, Jews in Poland: A Documentary History. The Rise of Jews as a Nation from Congressus Judaicus in Poland to the Knesset in Israel. Published by Hippocrene Books, Inc. Page 218 contains a reprint of "Chess Players," a watercolor.

·         Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw, Poland. We have information from a variety of printed resources regarding the Jewish Historical Institute.

"Accumulated during the 35 past years, the museum collections of the Institute are now composed of several thousand pieces. This includes ca. 4000 works of art grouping: paintings, graphic works and drawings, sculptures, works in metal, engravings, and artistic textures; ca. 300 pieces from the domain of spiritual culture - synagogicals, grouping religious cult objects, as well as about 500 objects belonging to the category of historical mementos, and also a rich, counting several thousand items collection of graphic works and photographs with Jewish themes……Because of the exigencies of space it is not possible to carry out a detailed analysis of the production of artists whose works are kept in the Museum. We shall mention only some of the creators of the past represented in our collections. Unfortunately, in the majority of cases the end of their days and product as well falls in the period of hitlerite occupation……Among the many authors of the works of art represented in the collections of the Museum, special mention deserve:…..Also the works of Mojzesk Rynecki (1885-1942) recall to the modern onlooker the realia of times passed."

The second piece of information comes from a book titled, The Museum of the Jewish Historical Institute: Arts and Crafts. The book was published in Warszawa, 1995. It was translated from Polish by Bogna Piotrowska. The ISBN is 83-221-064-2-4. An excerpt from the introduction (written by Renata Piatkowska and Magdalena Sieramska), contains mention of Moshe Rynecki. It reads as follows:

§         "Refugees" by Stephanie Franz, 8th grader.

§         In a class entitled, "Art, Politics, & Nazi Era" taught by Assistant Professor of Philosophy Christopher Long, at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, student Carrie Shwiner wrote a paper discussing the difference between Jewish art before, during, and after the Holocaust. She focused on Moshe Rynecki and Josef Nassy to prove that art did change dramatically between 1933 and 1945.

On-Line Educational Resources

Learning About the Holocaust Through Art – "Learning about the Holocaust through Art is a major collaborative project between World ORT and Beit Lohamei Haghetaot (The Ghetto Fighters' House Museum and Study Center), with principle sponsorship from the Claims Conference. The primary goal of this project is to create a significant, high-quality resource about the art of the Holocaust for researchers, educators, students and the wider public. This current website is the project's first deliverable. It is hoped that future phases will include: enlarging the art collection, translating the resource into additional languages, and expanding the educational content."  This site has wonderful resources including a teacher's guide, student activities and study resources. 

Yad Vashem – "Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, is the Jewish people's memorial to the murdered Six Million and symbolizes the ongoing confrontation with the rupture engendered by the Holocaust. Containing the world's largest repository of information on the Holocaust, Yad Vashem is a leader in Shoah education, commemoration, research and documentation." Yad Vashem has recently opened a new museum. They say on their site, about the new museum, "One of the basic guidelines for the museum's design was to create a visitor's route dictated by the evolving narrative, with a beginning, middle and end. A central 180-meter walkway (prism) was built with exhibition galleries on either side. Between the exhibition galleries are impassable gaps extending along the breadth of the prism floor. These gaps constitute a physical obstacle, guiding the visitor into the adjacent galleries, yet always enabling eye contact with either end of the prism. The prism is therefore a longitudinal axis of historical memory, crossed by the visitors as they move from one gallery to the next and from one subject to another. The displays, filled with original artifacts, documentation, testimonies, film, literature, diaries, letters, and works of art, emphasize the unique human stories of the Jewish population in Europe during those terrible years." The Moshe Rynecki Virtual Museum is proud to share the news that one of Moshe's pieces is included in the new museum. His work, "Refugees," is included in a gallery titled, "Between Walls and Fences: The Ghettos." You can see the new museum on-line or you can certainly travel to Jerusaelm and see the new museum and Moshe Rynecki's piece in person.

Shemini Atzeret - Simhat Torah – This is an art related activity put together by A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust. The objectives of this activity is to familiarize children in grades pre-k through 12 with Jewish life, festivals and culture.  Of course we’re biased in liking this activity because day one of the activity recommends viewing Moshe Rynecki’s piece, “Simhat Torah.”

The Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies - University of Minnesota – The Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies is sponsored by the University of Minnesota. It is designed to be used as a resource for those on campus (e.g., Center for Austrian Studies, Center for European Studies, Center for Bioethics, Departments of German, History and Sociology, School of Law, Minnesota International Center, Art and Art History, Center for Scandinavian Studies, Jewish Studies in the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Studies, Center for Advanced Feminist Studies) as well as a great number of off-campus organizations. The center offers courses about the Holocaust, organizes speakers and outreach events, helps devise curricula for pre-college education about the Holocaust and Genocide, and acts as a resource to other departments on this subject.

Washington State Holocaust Education and Resource Center – The Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center is a private non-profit education and resource center. We provide educators all over the state with Holocaust curricula and teaching resources. The purpose of our organization is to preserve the authentic memory of the Holocaust and disseminate information to the public about the Holocaust and the lessons that can be learned about human behavior, tolerance, understanding, social responsibility and moral courage.

KQED - FORUM – "On the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, guest host Dave Iverson and guests discuss the question of how we educate new generations about the history and import of the Holocaust." Guests on the show included:

Liebe Geft , from the Museum of Tolerance

Lissa Schuman, director of Community Outreach at the Holocaust Center of Northern California

Rabbi Yoel H. Kahn, Ph.D., director of the Taube Center for Jewish Life at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco

Stephen Feinberg, director of National Outreach, Education Division, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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