Cambridge Library Presentation

My Holocaust Heritage and the Basis of some of my Artistic Works

Fred K. Manasse

April 14, 2011

Points I will cover in this presentation

• My childhood in Germany & the Diaspora which brought me to the USA

• My Diaspora- the Sculpture– My first attempt at expressing my own family’s sacrifice to

save my brother and me– A way to remember my personal loss of family

• Creative Art as a relief from my EarlyTrauma– A method for expressing residual effects on being a

holocaust survivor– As a way to remember my personal loss

Papa, Gus and Mama~1934

Mama and we kids ~1938

Family pictures from before 1939

Gus, me and Papa in Brussels-1939

Group Photo at Seyre-1940

1940

Me @ 5

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Chateau de la Hille, Montegut-Plantorel, Vichy France -1941

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Inside entrance gate at Chateau de la Hille -1941

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My “Moyen Kinder” Group Photo at La Hille ~ 1941

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Myriam in Frankfurt a/m ~1941

Papa, Tante Liesel, Gus and Me @ Camp Gurs 1942

Me with my Pilot helmet and big stick hiking with my Kinder Group at La Hille ~ 1943

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Memorial Plaque @ Chateau de la La Hille , Montegut-Plantorel-2007

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Jewish Children in Safe House Barcelona, Spain-1944

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Jewish Children in Orphanage, Lisbon,Portugal-1944

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Selected images of Fred Manasse & family in USA 1945-2010

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Me when I left Europe and arrived in America-Jan. 11, 1945

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My Alien Registration Card on Arrival in USA – Jan. 11 1945

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Gus, Helen, Annette and Me when we Married -Jan. 22, 1956

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Basis of “My Diaspora”-- My intact Family in Germany 1934-1938-- My last visit with my father in France Camp

Gurs, March,1942-- The last picture of my sister Myriam on her

5th birthday in Frankfurt a/m - 1942-- The actual Sculpture – My Diaspora-- Creating the sculpture

My DiasporaAn assembled bronze sculpture

of my own family heritage as of January 1945

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Blowup of base & middle of “My Diaspora” The murdered/missing family members

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Artist Statement by Fred Manasse - 2011

In all of my artistic work, I try to represent a very personal vision of my subject matter and the target audience for whom the finished work is intended. In my sculpture I want to let my passions and emotions dominate the pieces I create rather than trying to make accurate representations of what I see directly. In my figurative work, although I look at the model and capture the geometry of the figure, I then adjust the sculptural gesture and features to match my inner view of the model to better reflect my own emotion and mood, thereby offer ing the viewer an insight of the person depicted in the sculpture.

I am passionate about the individualistic figurative works I create, and as a member of the Beaumont Sculpting group for 7 years have now created more than a dozen bronze and resin nudes. I have also done over a half dozen more abstract assembled works based on my heritage as a child survivor of the Holocaust. I have a number of themes that I am trying to convey to the public about tolerance in those works, and have participated and even curated, a number of exhibitions by joining with other artists. This provides me with more extensive opportunities to make my social views a forum for helping the viewing public to change the world to one which is devoid of intolerance and persecution

Some Additional Sculptures Created with the Holocaust in Mind

• Specific sculpture which I created to demonstrate that my emotions can be clearly displayed in my art

• Other examples of my Emotion based art– Art can sometimes do a better job than prose in

displaying emotions– Creating people immersed in traumatic situations

can relieve an artist’s trauma

Tante Liesel and Evelyn in Gurs-2005 ; Painted Resin

Despair- A face of Suffering

Female Camp Resident

Reaching for the Fence - 2007 ; Painted Resin

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A Menorah for the Victims Stained Glass -2002

Remember Them -2010; Assembled Bronze

In Memoriam

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For my Murdered Family Members in the HolocaustAssembled Bronze on Granite - 2011