Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on September 16, 2014

Artists Exhibitions News Poland Artists rebuild fragments of a former synagogue in Polish castle

By Julia Michalska. News, Issue 260, September 2014 Published online: 16 September 2014

Two German artists, Horst Hoheisel and Andreas Knitz, have dismantled fragments of a Jewish synagogue in Poznan and installed them in Adolf Hitlers former office in the Polish citys castle. The work will form part of The Eye of Memory (13 September-12 October) at Poznans Castle Culture Centre.

After the outbreak of the Second World War, the invading Nazi forces in Poznan turned the citys Great Synagogue, built in 1907, into a public swimming pool and spa. Extraordinarily, the former synagogue continued to function as a municipal pool until 2011, and was only closed due to the poor condition of the building.

In 1939, the Nazis also transformed the Imperial Castle in Poznan into Hitlers official residence. The castles chapel housed Hitlers office, which was rebuilt to resemble his room in the Reichs chancellery. The building was severely damaged in 1945. It was refurbished and now serves as the Castle Culture Centre.

It was no coincidence that the Nazis built Hitlers office in a former chapel. It was about the consecration of their government and its empowerment. At the same time, they deconsecrated a place that was holy to Jewish people. Now, through the fragments of the synagogue, the artists will deconsecrate Hitlers former office. Its a very symbolic gesture, says Anna Hryniewiecka, the director of the culture centre.

Hoheisel and Knitz are best known for their counter-monuments, which subvert the traditional understanding of the iconography of monuments. In addition to the installation inside Poznans castle, the artists Monument of Grey Buses, first shown in 2006, will be placed outside. The work, which has previously been installed in cities including Ravensburg and Berlin, is a memorial to the many disabled adults and children who were transported in buses to concentration camps, where they were murdered.

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Star of David rises over Hitlers former HQ

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