Lest We Forget: Art Exhibit Honors Holocaust Survivors & Their Stories

Rosalie Simon (center), a Holocaust survivor, reflects on a powerful portrait depicting the moment her hair was cut—a haunting memory from her past—created by student artist Genesis Carranza (far left). Janet Lust Ganes who stands alongside is Genesis’s art teacher at Lawrence High School. Ganes introduced the Adopt a Survivor Art Project this year where her students created art in response to meeting Rosalie and interpreting her story.

Glen Cove, NY - This past Sunday afternoon’s opening of Lest We Forget: Stories of Hope, Resistance, & Survival Retold Through Art was an overwhelming success. The exhibit, featuring artwork by artist and educator Janet Lust Ganes and her current and former students from Lawrence High School, brought together alumni, students, and art enthusiasts from across Long Island and beyond.

The exhibition, running at the Center through the end of June, features a diverse collection of drawings, prints, paintings, and mixed media inspired by the personal histories of Holocaust survivors. Janet Lust Ganes’s artwork depicts aspects of her own family’s Holocaust story. “Footsteps Ahead” illustrates her mother’s journey out of Germany in 1939. Teaching about the Holocaust through art became a passion for Janet during the past 25 years in her position as an art educator at Lawrence High School, where she used visual storytelling to bridge the past and present.

As guests moved through the exhibit, the shared stories of resilience resonated deeply, reminding all in attendance of the enduring strength of the human spirit. Through the eyes of young artists and the wisdom of those who lived through history, Lest We Forget is not just an art exhibition but a poignant reminder of the necessity of remembrance and the power of storytelling through art. To learn more about the exhibition and upcoming programs at HMTC, visit hmtcli.org.