a Terezin

Mother with two children

Terezin, Litomerice.

18th century castle located á short distance from Prague. It was used as a main transit point for prisoners headed for Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland 1941 1944 (see Archives of Jewish Museum in Prague, State Central Archives in Prague, Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem). Terezin has been characterized as a commemoration site since 1950 and a memorial has been erected.

Katerina Hariati-Sismani, 1911 1996

Painter, student of G. Bouzianis. She was exiled to Chios, Trikeri and Macronisos during the period 1948 1952. The small clay sculpture “Mother with two Children” showing a dying mother bread-feeding her two dying children was inspired from the Terezin chronicle (1941 1944). It was produced together with the drawing “a Terezin” in Trikeri (1948 1949). During her exile years Katerina Hariati-Sismani produced, among other works, 250 drawings depicting everyday scenes from the life of exiled women. This particular collection has been reproduced in an album titled “Women from all around Greece” . The sculpture was first cast in metal in 2010, in a limited number of copies.

Works of Katerina Hariati-Sismani are exhibited at the National Gallery, the Exile Museum, the Solomos Museum in Zakynthos and the Museum of  Hellenic Popular Arts.

Prov. Museum acquisition from the artist

The cast in metal has been made by a certified traditional foundry under the su pervision of the Art Works dept.