by Lea Levy, CFV Interfaith Intern

On October 16, 2014, the Indianapolis’ Jewish Community Center hosted an event called the Jewish/German Dialogue Project on the opening night of their annual Ann Katz Festival of Books. This was the first event of its kind that I have ever attended. Though I have read a lot and seen a lot of movies about the Shoah, I have never been to an event in which two artists, one on either side of the conflict, have had a dialogue about their country’s histo

Karen Baldner, a German Jew, and Björn Krondorfer, a non-Jewish German, have been working together for a decade to create artwork that expresses their reaction to the Holocaust. Though they have different histories based on their religious background, they have a very intertwined past. They both grew up in Frankfurt in the 1950’s, both had a grandfather that they never knew who had passed away during or as a result of World War II, and they both went to the United States to study.

Their artwork was rich with symbolism and emotion. One piece was a book that they put together through the mail. One would add a few pages then send it to the other and they would continue in this way until the work was completed. The outer pages of the book were a goat’s profile, but as they moved more towards the center, the pages became outlines of Karen and Björn’s profiles. This symbolized the scapegoating of each other that is ultimately reconciled through dialogue. The pages with Karen’s profile showed elements of her past, and the same with Björn’s pages.

By speaking about their intertwined pasts and about the process of reconciliation and understanding of each other’s pasts, they create a beautiful and peaceful environment through their work that reaches across the abyss and creates a new German identity of understanding and coexistence.