Waldsee-1944
Waldsee-1944, an exhibit in memory of the annihilation of Hungarian Jewry during the summer of 1944, is on display in the loggia and Hartzmark Room at The Temple, Beachwood. To commemorate the Hungarian Holocaust, the traveling exhibit features the works of art in the form of a postcard, by over 50 individual contemporary Hungarian, Israeli, American and other international artists. Included are, Archie Rand (USA), Tobi Kahn (USA), Judy Chicago (USA), Istvan Harasztv (Hungary), Dora Maurer (Hungary), and Aliza Olmert (Israel). During the summer of 1944 the Hungarian Jews were deported by the Nazis to their deaths at Auschwitz. It was uncovered during the Nuremberg Trials, that the Nazis forced them at Auschwitz to write deceptive postcards to their relatives and loved ones back home, who had managed to escape the mass deportation to the death camps, and reassure them that they were receiving good treatment and accommodations. The postcards were addressed from “Waldsee” (meaning Lake Forest), a place that did not exist, and stated, “We are doing well here; we have work and we are well treated. We await your arrival.” Marton Foldi testified, “They ordered us to write that we were in Waldsee. This is a resort in Austria, The postcards had no stamps. The postcards were taken to the Gestapo, and were forwarded from there… Afterwards, there were not even anymore “Waldsee” postcards. There was no one left to write them.”

Waldsee-1944 was originally curated by Andras Borocz, an internationally renowned Hungarian artist. In 2003, he located several “Waldsee” postcards of 1943-44 and in 2004, invited artists to participate in an exhibition in memory of the 600,000 Hungarians who perished in the Holocaust. The exhibit later traveled to Berlin and then to the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum in New York City where additional artists from the United States were invited to exhibit.

Waldsee-1944 is on loan from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum. In addition, this exhibit includes rare Holocaust mail, specifically postcards from the camps, that are part of The Temple Museum of Religious Art collection.
THE TEMPLE MUSEUM OF RELIGIOUS ART BY SUE KOLETSKY, DIRECTOR

THE TEMPLE MUSEUM OF RELIGIOUS ART