No More War

The Mural

 

This mural is a portrait of my grandfather, a concentration camp survivor, but it is also a monument to thousands of Latvian Jews who followed the same path of deportation and suffering. 

 

I painted his face large against a brick wall, with wire encircling the names of the camps. At the time, the brick was symbolic. It represented confinement, the physical walls of imprisonment. But later, I discovered something that shook me... my grandfather grew up in a brick house. I found that house only after completing the mural. I had unknowingly painted him back into the structure of a life that was stolen from him. 

 

His expression is calm but unbreakable. I did not paint him as a victim. I painted him as a witness and survivor.

 

The brick holds memory.
The wire holds warning.
The names hold truth.
And the face holds humanity. 

 

Art does not stop rockets. But it can stir empathy, reflection and the will to act.

When people stand in front of this mural, I want them to connect through shared understanding, their concern for war today allowing them to empathize with the suffering of my grandfather and thousands of Latvian Jews during the Second World War.

 

 

The Story Behind The Mural

 

July 2022. The 11th Annual Convention of Liepaja Jewelry. I returned to my birthplace in Latvia at a time when the world once again felt unstable. War was no longer something confined to history books. For someone whose family history was shaped by deportation and survival, these global tensions felt deeply personal. I felt compelled to respond - through public art. 

 

But public art does not exist in isolation. A local journalist Liba Mellere recognized the importance of the project early on. Understanding both the historical weight and the contemporary relevance of the mural, she helped secure a wall — a visible, meaningful space in Redans Museum, where the work could live publicly. What might have remained an idea became reality because someone believed it deserved to be seen.

 

Liba documented the process, photographing the mural. An article followed. Through that publication, the mural reached far beyond the wall itself. It reached readers who may never visit Redans. It framed the mural as a clear anti-war message for today.

 

Liepaja Jewish Community provided full support for the project. A famous local painter Eduard Kaplan kindly shared his supplies and artistic ideas. Many helped with logistics and transportaion.

 

The collaboration transformed the project into something larger than one artist’s expression. It became a community act. A shared statement.

 

We remember.
We learn.
No more war.