Melissa Gould
Artist Exhibit
FROM ADLER TO ZYLBER: A NOTE ON THE NAMES. At 8:55 on the morning of 6 November 1942, Convoy #42 left Drancy, France for the concentration camp Auschwitz. One thousand Jews were on board; 221 of them children. My father's father, a Viennese Jew, was among the passengers. The journey took two days. Upon arrival 227 people were selected for work. The rest were gassed immediately, my grandfather included. At the war's end, four people from Convoy #42 were known to have survived.
1. ADLER eagle |
51. LICHTENBAUM thinning tree |
2. BACH brook |
52. MALTZ malt |
3. BAUM tree |
53. MANDEL almond |
4. BERNSTEIN amber |
54. MANDELBAUM almond tree |
5. BLUMEN flowers |
55. MANDELSTAM almond tree stem |
6. BLUMENTHAL valley of flowers |
56. MILSTEIN millstone |
7. BLUMZTEIN bloom stone |
57. MOND moon |
8. BREHOLZ firewood |
58. MORGENSTERN morning star |
9. BREITENFELD wide field |
59. REHFELD deer field |
10. BUCHWALD beech forest |
60. REIS rice |
11. BUXBAUM box tree |
61. ROSENBERG rose mountain |
12. DIAMANT diamond |
62. ROSENSCHEIN rose's glow |
13. EIGEWALD oak forest |
63. ROSENZWEIG rose twig |
14. EISEN iron |
64. ROTSZTEYN red stone |
15. EISENBERG iron mountain |
65. ROZENBLUM rose bloom |
16. ENGEL angel |
66. ROZENTAL valley of roses |
17. FAINGOLDfine gold |
67. SCHATZBERGER man from treasure mountain |
18. FERNBACH distant brook |
68. SCHONBACH beautiful brook |
19. FEUER fire |
69. SCHWALB swallow |
20. FISCH fish |
70. SCHWARTZ black |
21. FISCHBACHfish brook |
71. SILBERBERG silver mountain |
22. FISCHBEIN whale bone |
72. SILBERSTEIN silver stone |
23. FRIEDBERG peace mountain |
73. SILBERWASSER silver water |
24. FROST frost |
74. SPIEGEL mirror |
25. FUCHS fox |
75. SPRITZER sprinkler |
26. GARTENBERG garden mountain |
76. STEIGERWALD climber's forest |
27. GEISHOLZ honeysuckle |
77. STEIN stone |
28. GELBTRUNCK yellow drink |
78. STEINBERG stone mountain |
29. GERSTZTENKORN barleycorn |
79. STEINHAUS stone house |
30. GOLD gold |
80. STERNBERG star mountain |
31. GOLDADLER gold eagle |
81. STERNSCHUSSshooting star |
32. GOLDBERG gold mountain |
82. STRAUSBERG bouquet mountain |
33. GOLDBLATT gold leaf |
83. STRAUSZ ostrich |
34. GOLDENBERG golden mountain |
84. SUCHER sugar |
35. GOLDSTEIN gold stone |
85. SZAINHOLZ beautiful wood |
36. GROEN green |
86. TAUBER dove |
37. GRUNFELD green field |
87. TENENBAUM fir tree |
38. HAAS hare |
88. VAJNAPEL wine apple |
39. HAZENBERG hare mountain |
89. VOGEL bird |
40. HIMELBLAU sky-blue |
90. WALD forest |
41. HIRSCH stag |
91. WALDKIRCH forest church |
42. HIRSCHFELD stag field |
92. WEINBLUM vine bloom |
43. HONIG honey |
93. WEINFELD vine field |
44. KATZ cat |
94. WEINSTEIN tartar |
45. KERN kernel |
95. WEISS white |
46. KIRSCHBAUM cherry tree |
96. WINTER winter |
47. KLEINBERG small mountain |
97. WOLF wolf |
48. KUPERMINE copper mine |
98. ZWEIGENBAUM twig tree |
49. LAUBERSTAJN arbour stone |
99. ZWETSCHKENBAUM plum tree |
50. LEWENKOFF lion head |
100.ZYLBER silver |
The images used by the artist come from pre-1933 German dictionaries and children's books. The use of the names and images creates a cryptic view of an aspect of German culture.
Three views of the installation, "From Adler to Zylber."
 Baum (Tree). 22" x 22" 1992 |
 Dreifuss ( Three feet). 22" x 22" 1992 |
 Breholz (Firewood). 22" x 22" 1992 |
 Eisenberg (Iron Mountain), 22" x 22" 1992. |
 Kans, 22" x 22" 1992. |
 Fishbach (Fish Brook), 22" x 22" 1992. |
 Luft (Air), 22" x 22" 1992. |
 Milch (reference to baby or milk teeth), 22" x 22" 1992. |
 Goldstein (Gold Stone) . 22" x 22" 1992 |
 Haas (Hare), 22" x 22" 1992. |
 Kleinberg (Small Mountain), 22" x 22" 1992. |
 Lichtenbaum (Thinning Tree), 22" x 22" 1992. |
 Weiss (White), 22" x 22" 1992. |
 Schonbach (Beautiful Brook). 22" x 22" 1992 |
 Steigerwald (Climber's Forest). 22" x 22" 1992 |
 Sternschuss (Shooting Star), 22" x 22" 1992. |
 Strausz (Ostrich), 22" x 22" 1992. |
 Tauber (Dove) 22" x 22" 1992 |
Artist's Statement
"For me, a shadow, a skeleton, a fragment are more eloquent than the entire intact object."
At 8:55 on the morning of 6 November 1942 convoy number 42 left Drancy, France for the concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland. One thousand Jews were aboard, 221 of them children. My father's father, a Viennese Jew, was among the passengers. The journey took three days. Upon arrival 227 people were selected for work. The rest were gassed immediately, my grandfather included. At the war's end, four people from convey number 42 were known to have survived.
The thirty-six pictograms correspond to the names which are taken from the Drancy transport list. The pictures, which I gathered from pre-Fascist children's books, schoolbooks, and lexicons, offer an invitation to a fairy tale world, whose poetry is meant to process a cruel reality. These are not mere illustrations; they are associative symbols that contain the aspect of destruction.
Pinnochio burns his foot because he has fallen asleep. He supplies the image for "Bre(nn)holz" (firewood). The scientific illustrations likewise evoke an interpretation of deeper layers, which are also ciphers for the fatal exclusion of European Jews. The lamb word "Weiss" (white) is a sign of innocence. At the same time, its body has already been subdivided as meat.
My goal is not to set up merely a Holocaust memorial; rather, it focuses on the complex network of Jewish/German history, hoping thereby to stimulate a discussion of that history.
- Melissa Gould
More on the Project
FROM ADLER TO ZYLBER literally, "from eagle to silver") is a series of conceptual memorial installations using original pictograms that are visual interpretations of GermanJewish names from an Auschwitz transport list.
The original document that inspired this project was the 1000 list of Convoy #42 (November 6, 1942, France Auschwitz), which I accidentally found in 1987 in The Memorial to the Deportation of the Jews from France by Serge Klarsfeld. Among the 1000 Jews from all over Europe on this particular train was my grandfather.
From the transport list of Convoy #42 I selected 100 German Jewish names, all with meanings derived from nature. Each name was represented by a "pictogram", pairing the name, written in Gothic Script, with a number and a different associative image. Each pictogram, photocopied onto white paper, measures 36" by 36" square. The images were taken from preWar sources of European popular culturelexicons, school and textbooks, fairytales, children's books and other printed ephemera. This combination of elements is contained by a black border (reminiscent of a death notice) and a thin outer edge of white.
The title FROM ADLER TO ZYLBER refers not only to the first and last names chosen from Transport List #42 but also describes the system with which the pictograms are arranged within a given space. They mimic the order of natureAdler (eagle) is hung high above, Zylber (silver) nearest the ground, and so on.
A Note on the Names
At 8:55 on the morning of 6 November 1942, Convoy #42 left Drancy, France for the concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland. One thousand Jews were on board; 221 of them children. My father's father, a Viennese Jew, was among the passengers. The journey took three days. Upon arrival 227 people were selected for work. The rest were gassed immediately, my grandfather included. At the war's end, four people from Convoy #42 were known to have survived.
From Adler to Zylber is a symbolic continuation of Convoy #42's journey.
On the first version of this project I chose 100 German Jewish names from the transport list of Convoy #42 whose meanings derive from nature; here I present 36 of those names. 36 is a multiple of 18. In the Hebrew alphabet the number 18 is equivalent to the word chai, meaning "life".