Arnold Zadikow, Hanukkah Lamp, Wood: carved, 1942
Object Name:
Hanukkah Lamp
Artist/Maker:
Arnold Zadikow
Bio:
German, 1884-1943
Artist/Maker:
Leopold Hecht
Bio:
Czech, 1912-1994
Place Made:
Theresienstadt (Terezín), Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic)
Date:
1942
Medium:
Wood: carved
Dimensions:
20 9/16 × 22 × 10 in. (52.2 × 55.9 × 25.4 cm)
Credit Line:
Purchase: The Abraham and Mildred Goldstein Memorial Fund
Accession Number:
2018-78

Not On View

This Hanukkah lamp with the Hebrew inscription “Who is like you, O Lord, among the celestials?” (Exodus 15:11) is a rare example of Jewish ceremonial art created during the Holocaust. The sculptor and architect Arnold Zadikow was deported to the camp-ghetto Theresienstadt in May 1942 and assigned to work in the Lautsch Workshop, which made decorative arts for the Nazis. Zadikow was aided by a young woodcarver interned in the camp, Leopold Hecht, who stole the wood for the lamp from the Germans. The lamp was made for the boys’ residence, to enable the children to celebrate Hanukkah and to teach them about Judaism, since Jewish instruction was forbidden. It was hidden all year and taken out only during the holiday. Zadikow died at Theresienstadt, but his daughter Marianne and wife, Hilda, also an artist, survived. The lamp was found in the camp after the war.

Information may change as a result of ongoing research.

Related AudioRelated Exhibition

1109 5th Ave at 92nd St
New York, NY 10128

212.423.3200
info@thejm.org

Sign up to receive updates about our exhibitions, upcoming events, our restaurant, and more!

Sign up