The Last Ghetto by Anna Hájková

Author:Anna Hájková
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2020-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

The drawing shows a young woman from Agriculture harvesting wheat. Agricultural manual labor was a familiar theme for young Zionists, many of whom had attended a hachshara, Zionist agricultural training. However, the scene in this picture is situated in the ghetto; the mountain in the background has a sunset with the Star of David and the label “Terezín.” Similar to the aesthetics that Lotka Burešová employed in her drawing of a young woman jumping through a frame, the features and attire of the peasant girl are markedly non-Jewish: she has blonde hair and red cheeks and is dressed in white, red, and blue—traditional Czech colors. The attire mirrors the clothes worn by Czech rural workers. Finally, the mountain in the background, even though it has two peaks, is redolent of Mount Říp. That mountain, a symbol of Czech statehood, is eleven miles away from Terezín and visible from the town walls. The birthday album ends with the wish that everyone may soon go wherever they desire.

Ornstein kept the album in her papers, which supported the Zionist master narrative of Terezín that she helped create.126 Key elements of “Czechness” are implicit in the work. For instance, the cuteness of the figure is expressed in a way that appeals to the viewer’s emotions. Unlike Zionists in Palestine, Zionists in Terezín did not have their own established visual aesthetics; they often used Czech aesthetics to express emotional messages. As in Burešová’s drawing, the fact that the figure is female is significant; symbols of emotional national belonging are often represented as female.

The prisoner society closely observed the ethnicity of women in public roles, and cultural productions were a particularly public role. When inmates criticized Josefa Klinkeová for her lack of Czechness, the critique addressed her lack of womanliness. When Marion Podolier was accepted as Mařenka in The Bartered Bride, narrators stressed her loveliness, the beauty of her voice, and her ability to integrate linguistically, thereby linking her appropriate femininity to her ethnic inclusion as Czech. All the major male singers were Czech, but they were not scrutinized as the women were. No one singled out Alexandr Singer for his Carpathorussian roots or Rafael Schächter for his Romanian background.

Nor were male performers criticized for their ambition. The two women directors, Vlasta Schönová and Irena Dodalová, by contrast, were attacked for being outspoken and assertive. These same qualities were praised in male colleagues, including Norbert Fried and Karel Reiner. Criticisms of Schönová and Dodalová did not necessarily address their directorial skills. Dodalová, who shot the first Terezín propaganda film in 1942, was disparaged for “collaboration.”127 Schönová was condemned for her sexual conduct because of her relationship with Benjamin Murmelstein. Many other women had relationships with unpopular functionaries, but people spread rumors about Schönová because in Terezín, the norms of female behavior were defined more conservatively, especially when in combination with power and ambition.

In order to become an active performer in Terezín, musicians, especially those who played an instrument, needed ambition. People had to put themselves forward to secure access to instruments and time to rehearse.

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