Project Ezekiel

The name of the Institute’s initial effort is “Project Ezekiel”. This name is derived from the prophet Ezekiel’s words: “Prophesy over these bones and say onto them: Oh you dry bones hear the word of G-d. Thus says G-d onto these bones: Behoold I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath into you, and you shall live. (Ezekiel 37:4-6)

Shoah inmates that entered into the Mauthausen concentration camp were registered, and individual identification cards called “Haftling’s Personal-Kartes” were created for them, and filed and catalogued for nefarious reasons. These cards document each prisoner’s physical description, along with other vital biographical and personal data. The physical description of the victims’ appearances were provided by astute Nazi official observers. These cards, discovered after the liberation of Mauthausen, have been archived and made publically available by Yad Vashem, under their “Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names”. There are over two hundred thousand such cards.

The Nazis could never have dreamt that these cards, created with absolute evil intent, would one day be a gift to posterity, enabling the artistic recreation of the images of their Jewish victims by using their very own documented words which so accurately describe their victims’ physical appearances. Artist can use the information on the “Haftling Personal Kartes” ,to allow us to look into their eyes, and cherish their memories by painting their portraits from those descriptions.

The ultimate goal of this project is to have students of all ages artistically reconstruct portraits based on every Haftling Personal Karte that is archived. Portraits on this memorial website will include the name and nationality of the Shoah victim alongside the name and nationality of the artist.

To view the wonderful photos, visit http://picasaweb.google.com/117905453891182613607/EzekielProject?authkey=Gv1sRgCLvn2pKgkJ741gE&feat=email#.