''...so we decided that we, that to make it to her, for her, hard, not to
kiss her anymore, not to have her too close physically..... And she went
with, we too, we went with her to the, to the streetcar, and we said
goodbye, like that, no kissing, nothing... and this is very personal, and,
uh, it's ridiculous to say that it's difficult because it never
changes...''

    Helen Waterford

הלן ווטרפורד היא ניצולת שואה שנולדה בגרמניה ב 1909. היא מספרת על איך שהיא
ובעלה החליטו לתת את ביתם למשפחה לא יהודית כדי להצילה ועל כך שהם החליטו לא
לחבק או לנשק אותה יותר בשביל שיהיה לה קל יותר לעזוב.
הלן וביתה היגרו לארצות הברית בשנת 1947.


My drawing focuses on the inner struggle I imagine Helen Waterford to have
suffered with her and her husband's decision not to kiss or hug their
daughter in order to make it easier for her to go live with a different
family. It must have been an immense psychological pain, to try making your
daughter feel somewhat unwanted, maybe even unloved. But they had to be
strong because they wanted her to live on, to survive - so this hand holds
on to an ''empty love'', and it sweats, or cries, for it is hard to hold
on, or pretend.