Brandeis University in Massachusetts hosts exhibit of paintings of girls and women killed in the Holocaust

WALTHAM – Brandeis University is hosting an exhibit depicting the experience of young girls and women who became victims of the Holocaust.

“The first day when they came to our town was a pivotal day. It didn’t take long. Within 20 minutes, shooting started,” said Holocaust survivor Lusia Milch.

After Nazis took over the town of Skalat, Poland, 12-year-old Milch was separated from her family. She hid in neighbors’ attics and survived the holocaust but never saw her family again.

“There’s one picture over there of me as a little girl, behind me is my family. I was beginning to forget the features of my parents,” said Milch.

Now Milch is teaching about the horrors of history.

“I am speaking to them as an eyewitness who saw and lived the Holocaust,” said Milch.

Milch is taking part in the new holocaust exhibit, “Lives Eliminated, Dreams Illuminated,” hosted by Brandeis University.

“Lives Eliminated, Dreams Illuminated” is a multimedia exhibition which depicts the lives of young girls and women lost in the Holocaust. The Dr. David M Milch Foundation is supporting the exhibit – based on documented archived photographs of female victims of the Holocaust – placed next to portraits of the lives that could have been.

“The artist Lauren Bergman has taken these lives that could have been beautiful and wonderful achievements and loves that never were and give them the dignity that was denied them,” said David Milch.

“It’s overwhelming to see all these girls and women that I spent so much time working on their portraits, thinking about their lives,” said Bergman.

 Milch told WBZ TV the memories Bergman brought to light are both painful and important.

“When I think of a little girl being brutally murdered…these people were killed. But they were people like you and I, they also had dreams,” said Milch.

There is also an audio guided tour for the exhibit at Brandeis University and it runs through Oct. 25.