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The Commonality of Humanity, An Artist's Journey

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Yom HaShoah: Elizabeth Taylor, Orson Welles, Roman Polanski

Yom HaShoah: Elizabeth Taylor, Orson Welles, Roman Polanski

Last updated on: April 20, 2023 at 10:50 pm by Judith Lungen

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Yom HaShoah: Elizabeth Taylor, Orson Welles, Roman Polanski 2023-04-20T22:50:58+03:00 Judith Lungen

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10AM, Tuesday morning, April 18th. Everything, everywhere, everyone in Israel stopped for 2 minutes. It is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. (Tel Aviv Highway. Photo Credit: Jack Guez/AP)

27th of Nisan In The Year 5783

According to the Hebrew calendar, Tuesday the 18th of April is the 27th of Nisan in the year 5783.

For most of the world it was just another Tuesday and of no particular interest, except for astrologers, astronomers and physicists who prepare for today’s new moon hybrid total eclipse of the sun.

All too many will turn away from reading, seeing or hearing the word, ‘Holocaust.’

Even more most probably will think, “Oh no not again, enough of that.”

However, for families and friends who were personally touched by the unfathomable reality of man’s ultimate inhumanity to man, Tuesday the 27th of Nisan, ‘Yom HaShoah,’ was a day of Remembrance.

Young old, religious-secular, male-female, left-right, gay-straight, soldier-civilian – at exactly 10am, for two minutes, the Nation of Israel stood still.

And as usual, politicians on all sides of the fence scurried around for the best photo opportunity. Little did Bibi’s Coalition Members expect to be verbally forced to retreat from remembrance day gatherings. For one day, politics faded away.

Dame Elizabeth Taylor, Orson Welles, Frank Sinatra

During the 24 hours of Holocaust Remembrance (from the evening of April 17th through the evening of April 18), Israeli television screened nothing but one Holocaust film after another. The Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa Cinematheques scheduled 1 to 2 days of Holocaust-related films.

I place one full length documentary above all Holocaust-related documentary films.

Produced by the Simon Weisenthal Center in Los Angeles, ‘GENOCIDE,’ is narrated by the great humanitarian, Dame Elizabeth Taylor and the indomitable Orson Welles. GENOCIDE (on YouTube)

Directed by Arnold Schwartzman, ‘GENOCIDE’ received the 1981 Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary.

One of several posters (and VHS covers) for the Oscar-winning documentary film, GENOCIDE, featuring the narration of Dame Elizabeth Taylor and Orson Welles. GENOCIDE available on YouTube

From the early years of country after country expelling their Jewish population, to the 10,000 shtetls where Jews (often forbidden to own land) continued to thrive, ‘GENOCIDE’ examines Jewish culture and religious traditions that were irrationally looked upon with suspicious hatred by their Christian neighbors.

The film continues and focuses upon the unrelenting persecution and systematic removal, torture, rape and murder of 6,000,000 Jews under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, enabled by millions of European and Eastern European supporters.

Among the A-list of Hollywood/Entertainment movers and shakers, Frank Sinatra helped finance this devastating, harrowing, honestly brutal documentary film.

Mother Mary, A Personal Reflection

The foundation of Catholicism and all Christian religions is based upon the Hebraic Old Testament, Mosaic Law (aka the Ten Commandments) and Jewish traditional prayers.

Whether someone venerates, worships or prays to Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Apostles, John the Baptist, Prophets or Archangels – Christians are venerating, worshiping and praying to ancient Hebrews who once upon a time lived, walked and preached in the Holy Land, today’s modern State of Israel.

In my inability to digest the ignorance of antisemitism that seemingly penetrates the DNA of Christianity, I turn my attention to the Holy Mother, the Cosmic Mother, the Divine Mother, to Mother Mary. For everything is born of woman.

David’s Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Why are Thou so far from helping me, do you not hear my anguish?” A delicate depiction of the Divine Mother, Mother Mary, in silent repose. There are no words to define or explain the most horrific, perplexing inhumane moment in the history of humanity. The Mother’s sadness exposes Her knowing that She could neither prevent nor stop the destruction, just as She was unable to prevent the death of Her own son. (JUIF, Digital Painting from ‘MOTHER MARY, THE COMMONALITY OF HUMANITY (c) Judith Lungen)

I am fascinated by the millions, perhaps billions around our planet who adore, love and venerate Mother Mary, a simple young Jewish woman chosen by God to bring upon our planet a child, a son, a prophet, a rabbi, a Realized Being, a Guru, a Master, a Siddha.

I chose to release my catalogue of digital paintings entitled, MOTHER MARY, THE COMMONALITY OF HUMANITY, AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY on Yom HaShoah.” “Mother Mary Catalogue of Digital Paintings

In each of the 23 paintings I seek to share the oneness, the similarity, the commonality of Judaism and Christianity. For it has gone on for too many years that Christians continue to hate Jews and Jews continue to fear Christians.

Holocaust survivor Judith Spielberger Mittelman, 96, showing her numbered tattoo. She was among 999 Jewish women and young girls transported from Slovakia to Auschwitz in one of the first transportations of women to the death camp. Photo was taken on March 29, 2022 (Photo Credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR)

Roman Polanski, Alfred Dreyfus, Theodore Herzl

Roman Polanski is a Polish Jew, born in Paris. A motion picture director with a massive resume, his numerous well-deserved awards and accolades reflect his artistic mastery of story-telling.

His 2002 Academy Award winning motion picture, ‘The Pianist’ (he won an Oscar for Best Director) includes moments that mirror Polanski’s personal experiences of surviving the Holocaust. The Pianist, Wikipedia

In 2019, Roman Polanski released perhaps his most important political motion picture, J’Accuse’ (‘An Officer and A Spy’).

Set in 1895 Paris, the film is based on the true story of the notoriously antisemitic Dreyfus Affair when a Jewish military officer in the French Army, Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully accused, tried and found guilty of treason. Dreyfus Affair, Wikipedia

Polanski’s film received numerous awards. Although considered by many to be another masterpiece, anti-Polanski women’s groups protested both the director and the film which resulted in an English language boycott and censorship.

‘An Officer and A Spy’ has never been released in the United States or any other English-speaking country. Except for a 1 and 1/2 minute trailer, there are no English subtitled versions of the film. Trailer with English subtitles for An Officer and A Spy

Roman Polanski, Alfred Dreyfus, Theodor Herzl. Their lives and legends mysteriously linked through three centuries of antisemitism. (Photo Credits:Polanski, 2013 Cannes Film Festival/Georges Biard; Dreyfus, 1894 Aron Gerschel and Herzl, public domain)

Is it because Zionism, a most provocative word in today’s vernacular, was born in Paris on the shoulders of Alfred Dreyfus? That the vulnerable, controversial and aging Roman Polanski became the perfect target to eradicate the parallel story of Theodor Herzl who is considered the Father of Zionism?

Herzl was a Hungarian Jewish journalist, playwright and lawyer. He was the Paris-based correspondent for the Viennese newspaper, Neue Freie Press (New Free Press) and covered the Dreyfus Affair. He soon realized the young officer was falsely accused.

Herzl was devastated to witness mass antisemitic rallies in Paris. He felt betrayed by the city he adored.

He was haunted by crowds of French men and women chanting, “Death to the Jews.”

After the trial, Theodor Herzl experienced an epiphany, a vision, a dream, a knowing.

This knowing completely consumed him. It changed his life forever.

In fact, Herzl’s knowing would impact and change world history forever.

After witnessing the travesty of the Dreyfus Affair, journalist Theodor Herzl was obsessed by the insecurity of European Jewry. He believed they were in danger of being annihilated. His 1896 pamphlet, “Der Judenstaat” presented a solution by creating a Jewish State. (Photo of the cover, public domain)

Theodor Herzl furiously wrote a pamphlet entitled Der Judenstaat, ‘The Jewish State.’

Published in 1896 he prophesied that Europe would turn against the Jews in a collective momentum to destroy and annihilate not only the Jews, but Jewish culture.

Theodor Herzl warned the most influential Jews of Europe. He warned the de Hirsch family, the Rothschilds. He warned rabbinical and religious leaders. He warned Pope Pious X. He warned the religious, he warned the secular. He warned the assimilated.

Completely exhausted, Herzl passed away in 1904 at the age of 44.

He did not witness the rise of Nazi Germany. Nor did he witness the Holocaust.

He did not witness the thousands who left, nor the millions who died.

Herzl did not witness the manifestation of his prophetic dream – the creation of a Jewish Homeland.

Epilogue

A quote from Theodor Herzl’s Der Judenstaat:

The Jewish question exists wherever Jews live in perceptible numbers. Where it does not exist, it is carried by Jews in the course of their migrations. We naturally move to those places where we are not persecuted, and there our presence produces persecution. This is the case in every country and will remain so, even in those highly civilized—for instance, France—until the Jewish question finds a solution on a political basis. The unfortunate Jews are now carrying the seeds of Anti-Semitism into England; they have already introduced it into America.

to be continued…

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About Judith Lungen

Exploring through Art the harmony, sameness and fundamental truths that exist within ancient scripture and experiences of The Divine. Born in Jersey City, growing up two hours north of New York City the heart of the 'Borscht Belt,' from the age of eight I received a wonderful, intense education in the world of music, theatre, art, ballet and creative writing. My first spiritual mentor was the larger-than-life, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach who, with his passion and songs instilled in me the joy of loving God. My second spiritual mentor is the mystical, magical Siddha Master, Jivanmukta Swami Ganapati. He has been my guide, my teacher, my focus for 33 years. Parallel to my spiritual journey, my art (with great amusement) often intersects with my worldly life. While living in London, employed by the budding Walker Books Children's Book Publishing Company, my watercolors were invited to over a dozen competitions and two solo exhibitions. Having transitioned to the world of digital art, I created my techniques that resemble watercolor subtlety. Between 2021-2022 a selection of my digital paintings participated in 60 international exhibitions, competitions and publications – recipient of 39 awards and citations. A citizen of Israel for over 4 decades, I was a volunteer on Kibbutz Hulda, founding member of Kibbutz Samar, served in the IDF/NAHAL, and I'm the former Festival Coordinator/Guest Hospitality for the Jerusalem Film Festival & Cinematheque. You can read more about the author here.

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