In 2017, Etz Hayyim received an email from Cretan artist, George Sfougaras explaining that after a visit to the synagogue, and with the realisation that as a child he was told very little about the history or even presence of the Cretan Jewish community, he had created “a small book as a personal response to the Jewish community and their plight” and that he “would be very grateful if you could let me know what you think”. Soon afterwards, we received an electronic version of the book at a time when Nikos Stavroulakis (whose work, particularly at Etz Hayyim, had made an impression on George during his earlier visit) was still able to view the art and provide the feedback that George had so kindly requested. Nikos fully shared the idea that the history of the Cretan Jewish community had been largely overlooked and was thus appreciative of George’s approach and the execution of his project. Nikos also suggested that the artwork should one day be displayed at Etz Hayyim.
Tales from an Old Fort Town, a title referring to George Sfougaras’ birthplace of Heraklion in Crete, expresses a sensitivity to the richness of the island’s long and complex history, as well as the integral role that Crete’s Jewish community and other neglected communities played in that history. The artist shows that the irreversible loss of the Cretan Jewish community in the Second World War was not just a terrible tragedy for the members of that community, but also a major loss for Crete and the Cretans, themselves, who have perhaps increasingly lost touch with the complexity and richness of the island’s past. We at Etz Hayyim are confident that George’s artwork will add a valuable and much-needed dimension to the general understanding of Cretan history.
The exhibition was first shown in October 2018 in our Mikveh. The works are accompanied by a book which the artist describes as “my personal response to the history of the Jewish community of Crete…[that] played an important part in the life of the island but which, through ignorance, racism and religious intolerance, has now disappeared. The community had almost been eliminated entirely and so I had to search long and hard to find its few remaining traces. My motivation for creating this book lies in the belief that the Cretan Jewish community is remembered, while the hatred that destroyed the community is recognized and addressed, accordingly. The book stands as a brief personal tribute, as an echo of a Greek community that is no more and as a work of love for the island of my birth. All of the illustrations were originally completed as monochrome pen and ink designs for screen prints and are an essential component of my on-going work into the many histories of Crete”. In his book, George’s artwork is enhanced by the evocative poems of Shelly Tracey, a South African poet with Latvian and Lithuanian Jewish roots. For Shelly, her poems serve as an addendum to George’s response to the disappeared Jewish population of Crete. For the poet, “George has captured a sense of loss in his powerful prints and in his account of why he decided to create this project. My poems are influenced by the experiences of the Jews who were forced to leave Crete and also by George’s evocative images.”