This drawing was selected as a winning portrait for Holocaust Memorial Day Trust’s [Extra]Ordinary Portraits Competition in partnership with the Royal Drawing School. It was exhibited online and on the Piccadilly Lights in London.

 

Bronia Snow came to the UK from Prague on the Kindertransport aged 11, leaving behind her parents and younger brother. Bronia speaks at events about her personal experience and, like me, is a member of Kingston Liberal Synagogue. I was privileged to be able to chat to her in her home. She described feeling lucky to have been taken in by a kind family, but that she thinks about the family she lost every single day.

In the background is Bronia’s piano with family photos and a musical score which she brought with her from Prague. I have cut out the pin that Bronia wore on her jumper. It was an ornate silver tube, where the Shema (Jewish prayer declaring faith in God) could be kept. Bronia’s was empty and she talked about struggling to believe in a God after the Holocaust. However Bronia seems resilient, kind and curious.