The Rogatchi Foundation Helped to Bring a Special Exhibit to Ukraine

The inauguration opening of The Auschwitz Album Re-Visited, a 40-piece collection of works by the acclaimed American artist Pat Mercer Hutchens has become the main public event in commemorative events on the International Holocaust and Remembrance Day conducted in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. The event was attended extremely well despite the freezing temperature and amidst the uncertain and rioting situation in that country.

It was the first time ever that the work of Pat Hutchens has been shown in Eastern Europe. And the artist and her husband, Brigadier General of the US Army (Ret) James M. Hutchens were incredibly generous to donate the collection to the museum working at Menorah, the largest in the world multi-functional Jewish Community Centre.

The Hutchens were represented at the event by Shelley Neese, the vice-president of The JerUSAlem Connection International, a highly reputable and influential public organisation based in Washington, D.C. The organisation had been co-founded by James and Pat Hutchens and is lead by James M. Hutchens.

Shelley Neese, the vice-president of The JerUSAlem Connection International opens The Auschwitz Album Re-Visited in Dnepropetrosvk, Ukraine

In her opening speech, Shelley Neese who had braved her way to freezing and rioting Ukraine all the way from Tuscon, Arizona, said the following:

“I want to thank The Rogatchi Foundation and the gracious and creative leadership of Inna and Michael Rogatchi for their very professional supervision of this exhibition. Inna is a curator par excellence.

All the oil paintings were motivated by The Auschwitz Album, the only surviving photographic evidence of Jews arriving and being “processed”at a Nazi death camp in the spring of 1944.

When Pat first saw the black and white photographs in The Auschwitz Album she began having nightmares. Travelling through her dreams, she would come upon the helpless Hungarian children from the pictures. They were dying all around her and in her dreams she would try to save them and to bring them back to life. In the morning when she awoke, she would get up and immediately start painting.

Only through painting did she feel like, in some form, she could give these victims life again, preserve their memory and mark their last breaths. In the beginning, she thought she would do a series of 12 paintings. But the work never felt finished. Even after her cancer diagnosis and throughout chemotherapy, she continued to paint as much as possible. What resulted are the 40 original works you see in this exhibit.

Each painting here tells the personal story of a child or a mother or a grandfather that deserves to be memorialised. The number six million becomes more than just a number”, -said Shelley Neese in her opening speech.

The Auschwitz Album Re-Visited, a 40-piece collection of works by Pat Mercer Hutchens, the main public event to commemorate events on the International Holocaust and Remembrance Day conducted in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine
The Auschwitz Album Re-Visited, a 40-piece collection of works by Pat Mercer Hutchens, the main public event to commemorate events on the International Holocaust and Remembrance Day conducted in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine

The Rogatchi Foundation was represented at the event by Elena Lifshitz-Gordijenko, the president of the Ukrainian branch of the Foundation. Elena read Inna & Michael Rogatchis’ address sent from the European Parliament in Brussels:

Elena Lifsitz-Gordijenko reads the address by Inna & Michael Rogatchi to the audience.

“There is no coincidence that both of us personally, and our Foundation, has become initiators of the idea of bringing this exhibition to Dnepropetrovsk. We knew the works of our dear friend Pat Hutchens well and thoroughly, and were privileged to get familiar with many of them soon after they were accomplished by the artist. We know and feel Pat’s attitude towards this, the most painful page of modern history. We also knew that in Pat’s world and way of life, the innumerate victims of the Holocaust had never been ‘a mass’ for her, but always – the individuals, the personalities.

The most ‘telling’ element in Pat Hutchens’ artistic world for us is her extremely powerful, very palpable will of sharing the pain. This precious moral quality expressed in her works in an artistic way keeps the consciences of many people awake.

The result of many efforts applied during a year and a half period of the exhibition’s preparations is today in front of you. The exhibition marks the International Holocaust & Remembrance Day, and there are not many other ways to do it better. Importantly, Pat’s work is shown in Eastern Europe for the first time, and we are personally glad that it is happening in Dnepropetrovsk, the city of both of our families.”

The Chief Rabbi of the Dnepropetrovsk region Rabbi Schmuel Kaminetzki who has been very supportive of the initiative, and was present at the opening, emphasized the importance of bringing this exhibition to the city where the theme is still a reality for thousands of people of different ages and generations, Jews and non-Jews alike.

“The exhibition is just incredibly moving, and it gets to the bottoms of people’s hearts, old and young alike. It is also of paramount importance that this collection will be staying with us forever,” – teacher and journalist Irina Lazarevahad written in her observations.