Doris Mirman's Works
Doris Mirman, a survivor of the Kovno Ghetto, the Koszedary labor camp, and the Zezhmary labor camp in Poland, wrote poems in Yiddish as soon as she found a piece of paper and a pencil. When she arrived in the United States, in July 1949, she translated the poems into English. She feels her poetry comes from a deep, embedded place in her. Decades later, as a form of catharsis, Doris went on to paint and make collages. The two collages were from a much later period, during the 1970s: Her first one is called, “The Holocaust”. Jewish life, Jewish culture, and Jewish communities are burned to ash and destroyed. The two hands are holding the word “Yiskor”, which means, “Do not forget. Remember.” The large letters are the prayer for the dead. One can see the various atrocities that occurred - how all life was ruined. The second collage with the Jewish star is called, “The Rebirth of Israel”. One can see the elements that pushed towards the climax of returning to the Jewish homeland – the living Bible, the Balfour Declaration, overwhelming support for Israel, the shofar, and winning the 1967 War when Jerusalem was reunited. The third example, a painting, is of a fish in murky waters. For her, this represents the loneliness she felt after the war – a single fish in murky water with no vision of where to turn next.