Gas-fired porcelain stars make up a Holocaust memorial artwork

Imperial War Museum North will mark Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January with a specially commissioned artwork by ceramicist Chava Rosenzweig and a new permanent exhibition.

Rosenweig with the work
Artist Chava Rosenweig with the work

Rosenweig’s piece – entitled A Star Shall Stride – is an installation composed of hundreds of porcelain stars fired in a gas kiln, explores how the Holocaust has shaped people’s lives for generations.

The yellow star – based on the Star of David – was a symbol of pride for Jewish people, turned into a symbol of humiliation by the Nazis.

Rosenweig with the work
A Star Shall Stride

Each of Rosenweig’s stars has been uniquely distorted by the gas kiln and affected in its own way.

One of the stars bears the Auschwitz camp identity number given to Rosenzweig’s grandmother, and all of the rest are blank, ‘allowing viewers to consider how their own families have been shaped by 20th-century conflict.’

The stars in Chava Rosenweig's work
The stars in Chava Rosenweig’s work

The 4m artwork, places the spotlight on third- and fourth-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors, like Rosenzweig, and looks at how it has shaped their identity, and asks visitors to consider what it might be like to live with the legacy of the Holocaust.

IWM North says that artifacts, sound and film, which have never been on display before will make up the rest of the exhibition.

Identity cards of people who suffered persecution in the Holocaust, on display at IWM North

Source: IWM

Identity cards of people who suffered persecution in the Holocaust, on display at IWM North

Rosenzweig’s piece A Star Shall Stride opens on 27 January and the other elements of the exhibition will form a permanent display as part of IWM North’s timeline of 20th-century conflict. 

IWM North is located at The Quays, Trafford Wharf Road, Manchester, M17 1TZ

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