From Death to Life
Jason Hagger
Introduction
The art project “FROM DEATH TO LIFE'' had its beginnings in Term 1 of 2022, after my wife Josie and I took up new positions at Raetihi Primary School in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. I introduced our Inquiry topic: Anne Frank and the Holocaust. However, the project really gained momentum in the following two terms (Terms 2 & 3) as our ideas grew more complex. The Anne Frank account set against the backdrop of the Holocaust really seemed to grab the attention of both boys and girls. The boys were captivated by war and historical events, whereas the girls gravitated toward the drama, stories and personal accounts of ordinary people.
To help deal with feelings around some pretty horrific content, we had sketching sessions where learners had time to draw, create scenes and tell stories, be they based on real life events or not. I was able to retell some of Fred Silberstein’s story. As an Auschwitz survivor, Fred was my guest speaker back in the late 90s at my then school in West Auckland. His story was history! May his memory be a blessing.
From the Holocaust we zoomed out a little more to see what happened in its aftermath with the end of World War II, Jewish refugees sick of persecution seeking a safe new home and the rebirth of the Jewish state in the nation Israel. Other learning topics included Zionism, a historical look at ancient Israel and the long Diaspora of the Jewish people. We also studied the significance of the Israeli flag and its relation to the tallit (prayer shawl). This is evident as you study some of the features of the button project. All valuable new learning for my Year 6/7 learners.
The work got underway with everyone throwing their ideas into the mix, drawing designs and playing with buttons. Starting off with one lone star on one small piece of fadge, we were underwhelmed and decided to come up with a bigger story and a bolder button memorial. To have just one lonely star like we started off with was only to tell a sad, secluded chapter of a greater story, we believed. From there we collectively came up with the idea of three stars, and the big length of wool fadge we originally discarded was found, and became the ultimate canvas for our new creation. A small team of my keenest and most gifted young artists (about 10 in all) set to work when the button stage got underway in earnest, whereas the whole class were involved in glueing, sewing and making tassels at dierent stages.
The story we tell has a simple three-point structure, each relating to a Star of David.
● The first star represents the Diaspora period with its long, sad and difficult journey down through the ages, bringing us right up to the 1930s and the most horrific chapter of all. The black and yellow star has become the defining symbol of the Holocaust people.
● The second tells of the Holocaust itself, of near extinction for European Jewry, and of all its evil. But it came to an end. That’s why in it the yellow buttons turn white, representing what is known in Hebrew as zeraim⎯seeds⎯the small seeds of hope that came in the form of modern Zionism in the late 19th century and took root in the decades prior to World War II. So it is, then, that the oppressive black and yellow of the middle star gives way to a new dawn of blue and white.
● The third star is the “phoenix” that rose from the ashes of the Holocaust: Israel, a nation reborn in a day, a living testament to the death camps that failed to annihilate and a sentinel to a people’s undying hope. Am Yisrael Chai!
Other features are listed below.
● 57 metal army buttons given to us by the National Army Museum. They represent New Zealand’s contribution to WWII, our fallen soldiers and all who served from our shores. They also make up the bottom stripe of the Israeli flag, so to speak. The top stripe already existed in blue. It is something the wool fadge has by design, a taonga (treasure) given by happy circumstance.
● Tassels-an idea that came about as we looked at the prayer shawl and a nod to Israel’s faith. These help ground and balance the whole piece from top to bottom.
● The zig-zag design along the top is a simplified kowhaiwhai pattern. This represents te ao Maori, the people and land of Uenuku, the tangata whenua of the rohe (area) and the tribal connection of many of my pupils. They also form the hills and volcanic mountain peaks that adorn the land.
● The stars above the hills and mountains. You can even find the Southern Cross, moon and sun. The Southern Cross identifies us as New Zealanders. The moon and stars point to the permanence of G-d’s promises made to the forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to make them a great nation. Incorporating this idea was my contribution.
We were definitely influenced by Moriah School’s button project, which began in 2008, after reading the Buttons article in the May 2012 Level 4 School Journal. Josie and I actually started a button drive in our school at the time, and ever since we have been buying up buttons. We knew they would come in handy someday, for something. This was the someday and something. The stars were made on the floors of the classroom, in offices and on resource room tables, all remade many times over to refine our ideas. There was the odd burnt finger from hot glueing along the way too, but that was all part of the learning.
Finally, we had a special assembly early in Term 4 to reveal the work to the rest of the school. A prepared script was read, the work itself displayed and the button project was complete. But not in my mind. In the future it is my wish to see this 3.4 metre hanging rehomed, gifted to a Jewish community or given a more public place.
In my opinion the learning was rich. Probably not the normal line of inquiry for the average NZ primary school classroom, but one we cannot ignore and must continue to address, especially in light of disturbing new trends in an age-old hatred. Everyone should know. Everyone is accountable for every act that is allowed to go down this dark, dark path.
In memory of Fred Silberstein
Button Art “From Death to Life” (Written by the learners of Room 1 at Raetihi Primary)
In Term 1 we, the learners of Room 1 at Raetihi Primary, studied Anne Frank, and subsequently looked at the backdrop to her story, the Holocaust, when over six million men, women, children and babies were murdered. Our button art depicts the journey of the Jewish people during these times through our eyes. We have called it “From Death to Life.” It is a whopping 3.42 metres in length!
Please note that our canvas is a wool fadge. The fadge represents Raetihi, the land and our rural way of life. We frequently see sheep in the paddocks and on the hills around our school. Some of us are the children of farmers so a fadge is nothing new to us. It has a soiled, wounded and war-torn appearance. The holes, one can imagine, could have even been made by the bullets and shrapnel of World War II.
And what about its distinctive blue stripe running along the top? This signifies the Israeli flag which has a blue stripe along its top and bottom. The modern state of Israel didn’t come into being until May, 1948, three years after the Holocaust ended. But even before the Holocaust began the beginnings of the fledgling nation were well underway. In deciding to use a wool fadge at the outset, it didn’t even dawn on us how inspirational that one decision was going to be in shaping our ideas and fueling our learning, going forward. For example, we learned that the inspiration for the Israeli flag came from a Jewish prayer shawl, or tallit as it is known in Hebrew, which has distinctive stripes running along its length at both ends. A tallit is worn by Jews when reciting morning prayers. You will notice that our fadge has tassels, just like an actual tallit, to show its link to the prayer shawl. These were a lot of fun to make.
The most stunning features are made from buttons. “Why buttons,” you ask? Well, back in Term 1 we read a School Journal article called Buttons. The article told of how students at Moriah School, a Jewish school in Wellington, collected 1.5 million buttons to represent the number of children killed in the Holocaust. The students learnt about the personal impact of the Holocaust and designed a memorial to the children who died using the buttons they had collected.
Our teacher, Mr Hagger, shared with us about how, thirteen or so years ago when he was teaching at Waiouru School, they collected buttons for Moriah College’s project. So, after reading this article we were inspired to make our own memorial out of buttons, knowing that Mr Hagger had quite a collection.
Allow us to point out some of the features the buttons make and their significance. The fifty seven gold and brown metal buttons spaced out along the bottom were given to us by the National Army Museum, Waiouru. They represent the contribution, lives and losses that New Zealand made during World War II in defeating Nazi Germany, so these buttons are very special. We had to learn how to sew them on.
The green line of buttons just below the blue stripe were, at first, just decoration, but Mr Hagger discovered that the colour green represents rebirth and new life. From the ashes of the Holocaust rose a nation. The four green buttons at either end have been sewn on as well.
The purple-pink zigzagged buttons at the top represent a Maori kowhaiwhai pattern. This is an acknowledgement to Maori, the iwi of our area and their status as mana whenua. Above these buttons you will see a smattering of small, white buttons. These represent stars in the sky. If you take a close-up look you will even find the Southern Cross, the sun and moon. Mr Hagger told us they represent the promises in the Bible that G-d made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the fathers of the Israelites, to make them as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Now we come to the most obvious and stunning features - the three stars. The proper name for this star is the Star of David. It is an ancient symbol of the Jewish people. This symbol was taken by the Nazis and used to identify Jews living in Nazi occupied Europe. By doing this, they were able to strip them of their dignity and single them out for “special treatment.” They had to wear an arm band or patch on their chest and on it was a yellow star with black outlines. So, the first Star of David signifies the Holocaust.
The second star is half yellow and black, and half blue and white. This star signifies the end of the Holocaust and the beginning of a great struggle for Jews to re-establish themselves in the land of Palestine, their ancient homeland.
The final star is blue and white and symbolises the birth of Israel as a nation once more. After almost two thousand years of exile, Israel is back in the land and prospering.
Our work is called “From Death to Life.” It tells of the harrowing journey through pain and death, to life, a future, and the hope of things to come.
We hope you like and appreciate it. We love it and what it stands for.