Local Nonprofit Advancing Knowledge Of The Holocaust Through Art

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Art has the ability to spark conversations, and the David Labkovski Project is using the artist's history, paintings and sketches to advance knowledge of the Holocaust.

"He documented what happened to the Jewish community during the Holocaust, the destructions and murder of the Jewish community," Leore Raikin, founder and executive director of the nonprofit, said.

She said that educating young people about the Holocaust was not only badly needed, but necessary.

"Now the research has come out that students today know very, very little about the Holocaust," Raikin said. "And we realized that using the art as a tool to engage students, this universal language of art, allows learners of all backgrounds to learn about the history of the Holocaust."

The project not only educates the students, but teaches them how to spread the knowledge.

"The most important thing, aside from using the art, is that it transfers responsibility and ownership onto the students to educate their peers," Raikin said. "As a docent, you need to know not only everything about the art, the artist and the time period, you need to be able to answer questions."

Using historical artwork to make a difference today is a key goal of the project.

"We have to each take on ourselves the responsibility of the importance of educating about the Holocaust in a meaningful and impactful manner," Raikin said. "And the David Labkovski Project does that through art."

The David Labkovski Project is launching a new virtual exhibit Friday that highlights the merger of literature and art. The online collection can be found on the nonprofit's website.