Physical Description
a. Small, rectangular, hollow, cast bronze sculpture with an open base. The curved narrow block represents bodies; at the top, heads are individually formed, but abstract. There is a groove across the front to hold the metal bar from the wheel (b). Two cylindrical metal rods are drilled into the bottom left and right to insert into the base (c). Deep gouge marks give the piece a rough, textured surface.
b. Gray and white flecked granite stone wheel. Around the rim are 23 chiseled lines of text and numbers; an English letter, a dash, and 4-6 Arabic numbers. The remainder of the rim, about 1/3, is polished and smooth with two cylindrical grooved metal rods drilled into the stone to insert into the base (c). The sides are roughly textured with white stipple marks. A rectangular moveable metal bar with 2 straight screws and nuts is inserted through a hole in the center.
c. Rectangular dark red and purple marbleized cast stone base built on an incline with rough, unfinished sides. The top surface has dark brown paint and varnish; the top left has large dark brown flecks in purple stone. On the top right are 9 stenciled lines of text and numbers; an English letter, a dash, and 4-6 Arabic numbers, as if imprinted from the wheel (b). On the top left are 2 holes to attach the bronze (a); near the top center are 2 holes to attach the wheel (b). The bottom is partially hollowed out with horizontal striations and clay remnants.
Dimensions
a: Height: 6.750 inches (17.145 cm) | Width: 6.000 inches (15.24 cm) | Depth: 2.750 inches (6.985 cm)
b: Height: 8.625 inches (21.908 cm) | Width: 13.875 inches (35.243 cm) | Depth: 5.875 inches (14.923 cm)
c: Height: 4.375 inches (11.113 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) | Depth: 23.375 inches (59.373 cm)
Materials
a : bronze, metal
b : granite, metal
c : cast stone, paint, varnish, metal
Contributor
Artist:
Baruch Wind
Subject:
Baruch Wind
Biography
Baruch Buzio Wind was born on February 17, 1926, in Chodorow, Poland (Khodoriv, Ukraine), to an Orthodox Jewish family. His father, Izak,was a wood merchant, born in 1870, and his mother, Bluma Bilik, was born in 1880. Baruch had 4 sisters: Esther, Sara, Rachel, and Chana, and 2 brothers: Josef and Kopel, his twin. Baruch attended a school that taught Hebrew and joined the Ha-Shomer Ha-Tzair youth movement. In 1936, his father died and the family had to depend upon their vegetable garden for income.
In mid-September, the Soviet Union invaded and occupied eastern Poland and Chodorow came under Soviet control. In June 1941, the Germans attacked the Soviet Union and occupied eastern Poland. Baruch was assigned to forced labor under brutal German and Ukrainian guards who whipped the workers as they worked in the snow and freezing cold. One day his mother went out to search for food and was killed by German soldiers. The children stayed hidden in the attic all day as told, until finally realizing that she was not coming home. The eldest sister, Chana, assumed responsibility for the family and sold furniture for food. A little later, his brother, Josef, was shot and killed. Chana obtained false Aryan identity papers for herself and moved to Lvov. In winter 1942, Baruch decided to flee Chodorow, also leaving his siblings behind. He posed as a Ukrainian orphan named Iwasio and worked as a shepherd. While staying with a Ukrainian peasant, Baruch slept in the main house. One night he awoke shouting in Yiddish. He fled immediately, but soon found refuge with the Holojat family. He stayed with this family until liberation by the Soviet Army in 1944. Baruch joined the Soviet Army and was seriously wounded during a battle and hospitalized.
After the war ended in May 1945, he returned to Chodorow to find a strange woman living in his family's home. All of his family members had died from illness or been killed. He left for Italy where he studied at the Art Academy in Turin before emigrating to Israel in June 1948. He was conscripted into the Israel Defense Forces and fought in the War for Independence. He later studied at the Bezalel Academy of Arts in Jerusalem and at an art school in Tel Aviv. Baruch settled in Ashdod where he worked on the construction of the port. He married and had children. He and his wife opened a clothing store in 1965 and Baruch was able to commit more time to his art. Many of his sculptures are on display throughout Ashdod. His work often reflects upon and memorializes his Holocaust experiences.
