I was born and raised in Israel, then a young state, which had gained its independence only a few years earlier. Although my father's parents and many members of my family perished in the Holocaust, I belonged to a generation that did not look back, but concentrated all its energy on rebuilding our ancient-new homeland.

During the 1980s, I lived and painted in New York. The dramatic encounter with Claude Lanzman’s documentary film Shoah and the material transferred to me by my cousin, Henry Kellen – himself a Holocaust survivor and founder of the Holocaust Museum in El Paso, Texas – had a tremendous impact on me.

This experience was the catalyst for a series of 18 paintings on the subject of the holocaust, which I named “Passing the Torch”.

I painted this series to serve as a constant reminder as well as an educational tool for future generations, so that they may not forget the horrors of the past and remember never to let it happen again.

Since 1996, “Passing the Torch” has been located at Ramapo College, Mahwah N.J.