Art Exhibit: A Child Artist in Terezín: Witness to the Holocaust by Helga Weissová-Hosková

World famous Holocaust exhibit comes to Seton Hill

The Honorary Consul General of Czech Republic Philadelphia, offers a unique series of drawings and water colors done by Helga Weissová-Hosková on display in Reeves Library from November 1st - November 18th, 2007.

Hosková was born in Prague on Nov. 10, 1929. She was deported to the Terezín camp with her parents on Dec. 17, 1941. Her brushes and paints packed among her limited luggage, the 12-year-old Hosková created a personal diary of her images of life in Terezín. She was sent to Auschwitz with her mother on Oct. 14, 1944, and then to the work camps at Freiberg and Mauthausen. She survived and returned to Prague, where she studied painting with the Czech artist Emil Filla. Hosková lives and is still working as an artist in Prague. This collection of artwork chronicles life during the Holocaust seen through the eyes of a young artist facing an uncertain future.

Terezín, a city located northwest of Prague, was originally presented as an "old people’s camp" for elderly Jews. Hitler sent Jews from Czechoslovakia, Germany, France, Netherlands and Belgium with the pretense they would be safer there. In reality, it was a place of starvation and brutality. Hosková is among an estimated 132 out 15,000 children from Terezín to survive.

The exhibit will be on display and open to the public in Reeves Library from November 1st - November 18th 2007. Viewing hours are: Monday - Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This exhibit is sponsored in memory of Laura Sudimack Ridge, mother of former Governor Tom Ridge, and the entire Sudimack Family.

For more information on Helga Weissová-Hosková or the exhibit, please contact the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education at Seton Hill University. Or call 724-830-1033.

A list of the artworks are as follows:

1. List of Possessions
2. Snowman
3. Arrival in Theresienstadt
4. The Dormitory in the Barracks
5. Concert in the Dormitory
6. Children Have Lessons
7. Standing in the Queue...
8. The Issueing of Food in the Men's Barracks
9. The issueing of food in the barracks courtyard
10. Distribution of food
11. Scavenging the Garbage
12. Scraping Out the Leftovers
13. Typhoid
14. Old People Standing in Que
15. Summons to Join the Transport
16. The Blind go to work
17. Canukah in the Loft
18. Sluice in the Courtyard
19. A Transport of Polish Children
20. A Departing Transport
21. The Last Farewell
22. In the Barracks in Auschwitz
23. Selection
24. Mauthausen
25. Catching Fleas